Crunchy Curry Chicken

Like I have admitted, I am not the best cook. I am trying to make some new dishes lately and in an attempt to do so, I picked out a recipe from my slow-cooker cookbook: Curry Chicken. And what goes better with curry chicken than fluffy white rice? After the curry chicken looked to be almost ready I started the rice. I usually make Persian white rice by adding oil and yogurt, but I was in a hurry, so it was just water and rice this time. Oh, and I cut down the amount of rice I usually use; 2 cups instead of 3. Note to self: never try to wing it unless you are a gifted, all-knowing cook. About 15 minutes later the rice looks done so I yell, "Dinner's ready!" We all serve ourselves up some rice and curry and sit to feast on the great smelling food. Ryan starts to eat his ... Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! is all I can hear. He says, "Didn't use the yogurt this time, huh?" Offended and irritated I bark back something like, "Why, what's wrong with it?" (meanwhile I haven't yet savored a bite yet). I take my first bite ... Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! Okay, if there's nothing better than fluffy white rice to accompany chicken curry than there is nothing WORSE than undercooked crunchy rice to accompany this dish too. Ahhhhhhh! After I crunched through my bite I started laughing ... "The rice isn't cooked all the way through, huh?" Ryan looks at me, we both laugh again. Note to self: next time do what works. P.S. The curry was actually pretty decent.

Okay, I'll let you know ...

Just because two of you requested it, I am going to reveal what got crossed off my to-do list. Drum roll please .... "Put paid bills away." Exciting, isn't it? Ever since we moved in with my mom-in-law I have kept our paid bills in Von's bags. It has almost been two years since we have lived here and I was getting tired of the bags. In order to put the bills away, however, I had to clean out and organize our file cabinet. So, while I did put all the bills away, I gained another item on my to-do list because I need to shred all of the old documents I had to toss-out while reorganizing the filing cabinet. Go figure.

Naked

I have been walking and running while pushing a jogger with at least one kid for almost three years. But today Aspen went down for a nap and Sage opted to stay home with dad and play blocks (ever the competition) so I went solo. First off, it took me only 30 seconds to get out of the house. Locate sunglasses, got it! Locate Ipod, got it! This is drastically different from the 20 minutes it usually takes me to dress the kids, fill sippy cups and pack enough snacks for a week's worth of camping. It felt really funny walking down the driveway with my hands completely free. I didn't even take the dog. I felt naked. I actually had the notion that people would look at me funny for going for a walk all by myself. Like, who walks by themself? I used to do it all the time before I had kids but there was nothing familiar about it this time. Don't get me wrong. It was an amazing run. I was only interrupted by myself to turn the Ipod volume down. No cries of, "I don't want to go on a walk!" Or, "more snacks please!" And yet, it was a bit lonely kind of boring. Won't even start to imagine what it will be like when the kids leave for college ...

No More Nog

We are down to just drops of Silk Nog in our refrigerator. Ryan is sad. We finally got the Christmas decorations put away, thank you cards written and Christmas cards removed from the front door. I can see how people leave their decorations up year-round. Tangent -- Kate asked Sage if she liked peppers on her pizza, she responded, "Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't." And lately, she has to "think" about everything. I tell her she needs to open her door so Aspen can come in. She responds, "I'm gonna think about it, mom." Think about it? I hope I get a lot smarter with age because I am going to need some creativity to keep up with this girl. Another tangent -- I am a list maker. I make lists for EVERYTHING. So, of course, I have a long-term goals list and a daily, short-term goals list. And, I say with much pride, that I actually crossed something off my long-term goals list. It felt amazing -- not the actual crossing off, but just getting something done that has been hanging over me forever. I'll spare you the boring details of the task that I completed.

Sisters on the Farm

Went to the farm today. Aspen wanted to eat the bread that we were throwing to the chickens. And she got a few bites, at least. Sage chased the "mama" duck because last time the duck actually sat down so Sage could pet her. No luck this time. We chatted with the horses and then brought the eggs in for grandma. Do we live on a farm? Some would say so. Then we played in Sage's pink car for a while and took a couple of "trips to the zoo" via our wood boat (imaginary for those of you who don't have kids). It was almost a perfect morning until Sage had a meltdown over a missing sponge duck that she just started playing with yesterday and that was given to her probably before she was born, and, of course, the sponge duck had to take a bath with us. I couldn't find the sponge. Yup, lots of screaming and tears ensued. A fun day despite the tears. Here are some pics.

New Woman - Part II

I didn't even know there would be a part two to this blog, but there just is. A few blogs ago I wrote about hunger and Michaela asked me via her comment if I meant spiritual hunger or food hunger. I felt a little convicted -- I had not even thought about spiritual hunger since I was so focused on my vegetable intake. But today I have spirtual hunger. My women's group met for a training day this morning to usher us into the new year and introduce the study we will be going through over the course of the next 8 or so weeks. And I am excited! I am ready to get back to daily and/or weekly Bible reading; challenging my spirituality and walk with the big guy. I am hungry to learn from others and fellowship with my mom's group. I am a new woman today -- with not just a clear nose but a beating heart also to learn more about my purpose here on Earth.

New Woman

I hate being sick but man do I love the day the sickness has turned for the better and you don't have to blow your nose every two seconds anymore. There is something so great about breathing clearly through your nose. And it's always the case that I don't realize how great a clear nose is until it's all stuffed up and redder than any red thing you have ever seen. And tender too. But alas, the sniffles are gone and I feel like a new woman, ready to take on laundry, cooking, cleaning and playing ponies. I am even a little excited to go to the gym in the morning. Yes, a new woman indeed!

Happy New Year!

The last few weeks have been wonderful and hectic. Let's see ... where should I begin? We made it through 4 Christmas celebrations. Sage's favorite gifts so far: Soaky Dokie (a large my little pony that can go in the shower) and a small stuffed animal penguin (it's a "baby" penguin, of course). Then Ryan left the day after Christmas for a youth snowboard trip to Utah. He was gone for 5 days (felt like eternity, of course). The highlight of those 5 days ... going to Boccalli's with my dad and the girls. He came and picked us up in his truck, treated us to fabulous Italian food and then drove us home. Ryan came back just in time for us to celebrate the new year (don't even think we stayed up past 10pm). We watched a little bit of the Rose Parade on New Year's Day and then packed up the kids in the car and headed up to some local mountains for a hike. We were surprised to see snow all over the trees and ground. As soon as Sage got out of the car she ran over to the snow, scooped some in her hand and took a bite! The following day we packed up the kids again and went to Pismo beach with my dad. I caught a cold the first night of the trip and Aspen didn't sleep that well at night, but besides that, we had a great time. Ryan and I got to take the quads out in the dunes ... that was worth every bit of sniffle and lack of Zzzzzz that comes with camping with kids under the age of 3. We got home on Thursday night, just in time for my dad to rush off and meet Jorgia, our new baby niece who was born on Wednesday night. Hopefully my Rudolf nose is gone by tomorrow so we can go and meet her too : ) Here are some photos from our adventures.