Week 17

Hi friends!  How was your week?  Ours was fantastic!

For a couple of weeks, Ian has suggested that he takes all the cooking on for an entire week.  Well, this was the week!  I told him that he had to stick to budget and the meals had to be semi-nutritious.  We had a feast this week.  Ian is definitely the better cook of the two of us.  And he stayed on budget (maybe?)  I don't care, the food was fab!
He made:

• Mini-Pizzas (on English Muffins)
• Chicken and Spinach Calzones
• Cinnamon Woes
• Chicken Cheesy Pepperoni Panini and Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Strawberry Pancakes, Yummy Scrambled Eggs, and Company Coffeecake
• Breakfast Sandwiches (english muffins + eggs + candian bacon)
• He took me out to eat here!
• Leftovers
• Quesadillas
• Pasta + Chicken + Veggies + Cream Sauce of loveliness

When you can not find a recipe on the internet, just take a picture of the cookbook :)

The rule in our household is: Whoever cooks does not have to clean up.  So I have been on clean up all week. 

In other news, it snowed here this week.  We got snow on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  And since we live in Colorado, when it rains it pours, when it snows, it blizzards.  Ironically enough, Ian mowed yesterday :)  Oh Colorado and your crazy bi-polar weather!

I am a safe driver...I only take pictures while I am at stoplights.

What I've been enjoying: Ian cooking!  It is so nice to come home from work and relax for a bit.
What I've been reading: Naming Infinity - I checked this out at the library - so, so interesting!
What I've been running: dreadmill, dreadmill, and more dreadmill with the yucky weather this week
What I've been humming: The Doxology and Great is the Lord (by Michael W. Smith)(from like 1982)

Right now...

Just to clarify, this is not our backyard

I am snuggled in at home, while Ian is at his evening class.  I am working on my cover letter and sipping on some {decaf} coffee.  Pandora is playing and a candle is flickering. Got my slippers on and feeling content. 

Snowy times call for comfy measures

Week 16 - some R & R

Hi friends, I am a little late on this update, but the beauty of the internet is that you can reverse time on your posts :)

Last week was not too eventful around here.  I spent the week laying on the couch recovering from my lovely illness.  Some exciting things that did happen:

• It snowed.  It was 65 degrees here on Monday and snowed here on Tuesday.  Oh Colorado, you are a tricky one.
• We had Missions Weekend at church.  We learned about Muslims, visited a mosque, and ate some Middle Eastern Cuisine.  
• In preparation for the international potluck following Sunday's church service, we headed to H Mart to stock up on Korean food.  We currently have kimchi in the fridge!  My heart is happy.

Even in America, Korean marts have a whole row of Ramen :)

 What I've been making: I made Two Timin' Pasta, last week, but forgot to share.  This is delicious (but loaded with calories).  The only change I made to the recipe was using homemade Alfredo sauce.  And I only made 1/2 of the recipe, since there is just two of us.
What I've been enjoying: watching lots of YouTube videos whilst laying on the couch
What I've been running: not so much, I got shaky legs just walking around the apartment
What I've been thankful for: We stocked up at Costco right before I got sick, and it has been a life-saver!

Week 15 - it was going well until I got sick :(

Hi friends, another week has past.  Here are some highlights from our week include:

• I discovered that a nearby coffee shop has a Cinnamon Roll Latte.  Praise the Lord!
• We got some good chores done this week including:
• An Emission Test done on the car.  It is a required test before you can register your car in Colorado.
• We got our Colorado License Plate (and learned the hard way that you really should get this done within the first 90 days of moving to Colorado, even if your car is legally registered in IL...)  The Colorado DMV got a nice donation from us this week :)
• We got a Costco card!  I think I will always associate Costco with Korea, but American Costco has some good deals too.  
• I did our taxes and mailed them in.  (It pretty much amounted to me putting zeroes in a lot of spaces, since all the money we earned in Korea was tax-free).
• We finally got some spring weather this week!  It rained and the grass started to green up. 
• For a new recipe, we tried this Apple Tortilla Dessert out.
• We ate at Chiptole for lunch this week...probably not a highlight for some people, but I like the small joys of life.

And then Saturday happened.  Saturday started off as a normal day, but turned into quite the adventure.  I don't remember what we did Saturday morning, probably slept in, ate breakfast, and then we picked up trash around the church.  Ian went to help one of his friends move.  I headed out for my long run.  It was a glorious day to run 13 miles.  I came home to discover that I had locked myself out of our apartment.   :(    I called my sister-in-law.  She came to the rescue!  She let me shower at their place and borrow some clothes.  I had to babysit that evening, so she even dropped me off for that.

Shortly after arriving at babysitting, I started feeling queasy.  I am not a thrower-uper.  I hold it down for as long as I possibly can.  But it was not to be.  I threw up.  And felt better.  I thought that would be the end of it (oh the irony!).  An hour later, I upchucked, then again 20 minutes later, then again and again.  Thankfully I have an amazing husband who came and helped me out with the kiddos, so I could lay on the bathroom floor and empty my stomach every 20 minutes.

When the parents finally got home, my knight-in-shining armor whisked me home in our chariot and I puked into a garbage bag on the way there.  We got home and I ended up sleeping on the floor of the bathroom so I could continue to vomit every 30 minutes throughout the night.  I think we each got about 2 hours of sleep.  Around 6:30 in the morning, it got even better.  I started having diarrhea.  And then the last straw, I was throwing up and having diarrhea at the same time.  I threw in the towel and Ian took me to the ER.


I don't remember a whole lot other than I was dry heaving and they were trying to start my IV at the same time.  And I think I told the nurse that she "spoke English very well".  Being sick in America is way better than being sick in Korea.  I would have survived in Korea, but it was convenient to speak English and be understood.  Ian was quite the trooper, he stuck with me the whole time and was so helpful.  We were in the ER for about 5 hours.  They gave me 3 bags of liquid (I totally could have taken another bag or two, but the nurse, doctor, and Ian said it was time to go home).  They also gave me some anti-nausea, Benadryl, and some else I can't remember via the IV.  The nurse told us that five other people had come in that morning with the same thing.  (And I am not prego, in case you are wondering...I have the stick in the arm, remember?)

"I just assumed there was an actual use for the cup of ice chips they gave me."  Anyone else a lover of Gilmore Girls?

Gatorade mixed with Ginger Ale is rocking my world right now.  It seems quite pathetic to me that a few days ago I ran for 2 hours and today I get shaky legs whilst brushing my teeth.  Oh well, all in good time.  If I had a desk job, I would be back at it tomorrow, but running after 3 kids take a lot of energy...so I will probably stay on the couch and focus on getting something more substantial than a Popsicle down.

That was the excitement of our week...how about yours?

This is the Bambi Wall...it was in my room in the ER.  It will be engraved in my memory for years to come.

Week 14 - Spring Break!

Hi friends!  Hoppy Easter!
I am a rebel ya'll, this is the second year in a row that I have skipped church on Easter.  Last year it was because I was trying to run a marathon.  This year it was because I was skiing with friends.

But before I get ahead of myself, highlights of the week:

• The kiddos that I nanny for were on Spring Break this week.  We had a blast!  Can't wait for summer to roll around so I can hang out with all three more often.  I brought everyone over to our apartment and we played hide-n-seek.  It was too much fun.  There are three kiddos that now have a Mr. Ian wrapped our their little fingers.  Mr. Ian showed each one how to write his or her name in Greek.
• Mr. Ian and Miss Alissa took all three kiddos out for lunch.  When going out to lunch with kids, two adults to three kids is a good ratio I have learned.  Much better than one adult to three kids.
• I got a library card this week.  Bad new bears ya'll.  I stayed in bed until noon one day this week reading.  Some self-control needs to be applied.
• One of my good, good friends from college flew in on Friday.  We went running together (!!).  She is a rockstar and helped us clean the church on Saturday.  I was her caddy when we went disc golfing.  We ate a lot of good food together.  We went skiing together.  It was a good weekend!
• For the record, skiing is not quite like riding a bike.  It took me a couple of hours to remember what I was doing.  But it is a lot more fun to ski in Colorado than in Korea!  Remember to bring some sunscreen with you if you go skiing on a cloudless day (just sayin').
• Oh yeah, if you are ever in Breckenridge, check out this place - it is delicious!

Yogurt land + Friend = Awesome

What I've been making: Greek Style Supper was our new recipe for the week, it was good!
What I've been enjoying: Having a friend in the same town as me for a few days!
What I've been reading: Lori Wick will always be my favorite author.  You can make fun of me, it is okay. 
What I've been running: I did 1,000m repeats on the dreadmill, thought I was going to die.
What I've been listening to: Sara Groves
What I've been smelling: pine trees whilst skiing!
What I've been humming:  Up from the Grave He Arose!
What I've been buying: I get to buy an emission test for the car.  It is required before we can get our Colorado license plates.

Week 13 - Spring is Coming...maybe?

We are snug as a bug in a rug this weekend.  We got about 8 inches of snow.  Except for going out to shovel, we have been sticking close to home and enjoying a lazy weekend.

When you live in a basement apartment,  your pictures of the snow outside your window are pretty special.

Here are some highlights from the week:

• I took the Wee One that I nanny to tumbling this week.  We had a blast!  She loves to get out of the house and go on adventures (that is what I term leaving the house with her in tow).  Her brother, on the other hand, loves, loves, loves to stay home and hates to leave the house.  I was quite proud that I got some amount of breakfast into everyone, the older ones to school on time, and the little one and I made it tumbling on time (dare I say  a few minutes early) all by 9:15am.  Glad I do not have to do that every day though.
• It snowed.  Like 8 inches.  Have I mentioned that Ian and I are the snow removal team for our church.  Ya'll, it is good for me.
• I ran a 12 mile long run this week.  Wootwoot!  It has been awhile since I have done 12.
• I wrote a long post on menu-planning.  It will rock your socks or your world.

What I've been enjoying: the Wee One recently had a birthday, she got some sweet art supplies.  Yes, I enjoy crafting at the same level as a 3 year old.
What I've been wearing: I impulsively got a new "spring" T-shirt for 5 buckaroos at Target
What I've been running: I ran a 800 repeat workout this week and have been increasing my mileage
What I've been buying: I bought plane tickets this week!  Yay!  

A really long post on my menu planning ephipanies

I have been working on my menu planning system the last few months.  I think I finally have it figured out.  I, personally, do not like the "weekly meal plan".  It worked okay for us in Korea, but I sometimes find a new recipe that I want to make next week, or I want to reschedule a yummy meal we just ate.  This is going to shatter the earth, ya'll.  I print a calendar (really, it is 5week x 7 days graph that looks like a calendar) off each month.

So mind-blowing, I took a picture of March's Menu

It hangs on the side of the fridge - it rocks my world.  Once a week, I take it down and menu plan on it.  Then I hang it back up.  The main thing that I love about this system is that at the end of 2013, I will have 12 blessed sheets of paper that list ALL the meals we have eaten.  12, not 52.  Praise the Lord!

Anywho, I have now been doing this for 3 months or so.  I collected the good meals we have eaten in the last 3 months and categorized them on a piece of paper.  I have listed the "special ingredients" that I need to make each dish (things you would not find in my cupboards on a regular basis).

I like this piece of paper for several reasons.

1. If I want to make Egg, Cheese, and Sausage Bake, then I know I need parsley.  I also see that I use parsley in Shrimp Salad - perfect!  Let's eat those within a week of each other and not let the fresh parsley go bad in the back of the fridge.
2. If I need to pull together a meal quickly, I can survey my fridge and cupboards, see what I have, and refer to the piece of paper to see what I can make with ingredients on hand.
3. It includes pretty colors.  I like pretty colors.
4. When I am trying to menu plan for a week, and my brain is stuck, I can whip out this piece of paper and see what looks good, or what meal make sense to make for this week (see #1)
5. While menu planning, I can check the store ads online and try to make frugal meals with what is on sale...I have not tried this yet, but it seems like a good idea in my brain. 

My plan is to update this every 3-6 months with new recipes we have tried and liked.  My goal is to have chicken (or beef, or eggs etc) take up an entire page or half a page someday.  Then I will be menu planning queen!  And I would like the day of entire page of chicken be in the next 5 years (that is before we have kiddos and our life gets crazy.  Having kids = craziness.  I do learn things whilst nannying ya'll...sometimes craziness = fun and sometimes craziness = not having time to search the internet and cookbooks for lots of fun new recipes because Someone wants a sippy cup full of milk and Someone Else wants to know how cereal is made, Someone else is practicing the piano with much gusto, and the phone is ringing).

I think the best thing about this is that I know it works for me.  I have read a lot of blog posts about how meal planning works for other people.  But I have never read a blog post that clicked for me, "Like that would totally work for me!".  This (so far) has worked.  Hallelujah!

I am working on getting this into a google doc so ya'll can access it.  It is slow going because google docs does not like me.  I will link it when I have it.