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.

4 Days Till Christmas

We went shopping today (Sage, Great Grandma and I). The mall was insanely busy. I had a gift certificate to See's and I really wanted to use it, so I waited the 30 minutes (or was it more?) to get my pound of chocolates. Everyone in line was in good spirits despite the long wait. I was surprised by this. Earlier in the week Sage and I went to Starbucks to get some gift cards and the barista was handing out free samples of Caramel Hot Cider. Sage's eyes got really big when she saw the whipped cream drizzled with caramel sauce. We sat and enjoyed our drink but Sage sort of freaked out when the whipped cream was gone. I said something about apple juice and she looked at me with eyes that screamed, "Why did you ruin my drink with juice? I don't want juice!!" I coaxed her into trying the cider and she took a few sips and then pushed it aside. The whipped cream was great though. Later in the week we took a trip to the zoo and rode the train for the first time. That was a real treat. So, Christmas is 4 days away and many things have been crossed off my checklist: buy presents, wrap presents, order, address and mail Christmas cards, go grocery shopping, remind Sage that Christmas is about Jesus, clean bathrooms. But still, some tasks remain: finish wrapping presents (okay, not totally finished), go to the store again (need more food), clean bedroom, clean kitchen, mop floor, wash all linens and towels, continue to remind Sage that Christmas is about Jesus, and get some sleep. Speaking of wrapping gifts, my sister-in-law did the neatest thing. Instead of using Christmas labels or Sharpie pens (like us) to label her gifts, she put a picture of the recipient on the top of the present. I LOVE this idea. The kids can pick out who gets what present. Genius. We were asked at church last Sunday what our favorite things about Christmas are. Gift giving is at the top of my list, followed by family time and food. I can't wait to see everyone open their gifts this year. I thought I was over counting down for Christmas but I can't help but feel a sense of excitement for the weekend events to come.

On Cooking

Okay, so I am not the greatest cook. I am not even a great cook. But somehow I slap food onto a plate and we all get full enough until the next meal-time comes and I whip something else up to appease our hunger. My latest venture in the cooking world has been pan roasted vegetables. I am actually pretty impressed with how well the veggies taste. Then I made Holly's "man-balls," (meatballs) for homegroup the other night and all but a few balls were left over. So, feeling good with this cooking thing I decided to make some no-bake cookies. Basically you boil some ingredients, add some oats and drop them onto wax paper to cool. It has been a couple of hours and mine are still wet, sticky globs; no hardening happening here. So what is an amateur cook to do? Throw them in the freezer and harden them up! Someone once said it's not the circumstance that makes you, it's how you deal with it. Freezer it is.

Trimming the Tree

Tonight we went to Grandma Cheryl's to trim her Christmas tree. Sage remained interested in the event for close to 10 minutes. She placed the ornaments on the tree in clusters; all the apple ornaments had to be close to one another because they are "friends." After she positioned some apples and santas on the tree she moved onto feeding and putting her baby doll to bed. Aspen wanted only to touch and eat the ornaments, of course. That's why we only visit Christmas trees at the grandparents' houses. They are beautiful and all but I don't know how many times I could say "no, don't touch," or "no, don't eat that," before I would completely loose it. Here are some pictures.

Christmas Lights

I love roaming around neighborhoods to check out the different Christmas light decorations. We kept saying that we were going to go and then something would come up. But tonight we had the perfect opportunity. Aspen was inconsolable from whatever it is that was bothering her and Sage was whining about this, that, and the other, so we decided to pack them up in the car and go "exploring for reindeers," as we told Sage. At first we were pointing out all the giant snowglobes and Santas. By the end of our journey, however, Sage was yelling, "Stop! Wait a minute! I see a reindeer!" Needless to say, it was a great adventure.

Hunger, Part 1

I am seriously questioning what it means to be hungry. A few weeks ago I set out to eat just what I needed to eat. I followed the pyramid, passed on taking second helpings and traded vegetables for starchy snacks (and this is big since I don't really eat vegetables). I was definitely eating enough and yet I felt hungry most of the time (except for when I had the flu, of course. That helped, I guess). So then I started thinking, what does it mean to "feel" hungry. Do I know real hunger? Is this how I am suppose to feel all the time? Hungry? I haven't quite figured this all out, as you see. However, I am beginning to think that my understanding of hunger is way off. I don't even know when part 2 of this discussion will happen, but I thought I would throw this hunger stuff out there since it is something I am struggling through. Any thoughts?

Emerging

I never pray so earnestly to God for deliverance than when I am puking out my guts and pooping uncontrollably. It is in these moments that I am literally brought to my knees. Needless to say, the last few days have been anything but fun. However, I am emerging from the flu epidemic that has past through our family and it looks to be like I will survive. It was questionable there for a moment.

Glass Half Empty

Okay, it's been a week since my last post and I really hope that you haven't deleted me from your favorites already. But, in my defense, this past week has been crazy. Here is a little snapshot of the craziness ....

Have you ever tried to reason with a 2 1/2 year-old? I left Sage's sleeping buddies at my mom's house (penguin & bunny) and this is how things went down as I tried to put her to bed:
Sage: I want my penguin!!!! (screaming at the top of her lungs)
Me: Hunny, mommy left your penguin at grandma's house, so we can't get it until tomorrow.
Sage: But I want my penguin!!! (red faced, big cry)
Me: Sweetie, I know you want your penguin, but it's not here right now.
Sage: I want my penguin!!! (lots and lots of tears now)
Me: Look, we have one of your bunnies (it's a back-up bunny, identical to the other one). At least we have one of your bunnies. Thank goodness mommy kept one bunny at home so you can sleep with it tonight. (don't you see how thoughtful I am and how lucky you are???)
Sage: Maybe grandma can get my penguin.
Me: No, grandma is at home and she can't bring us the penguin. I am sorry. Let's be happy we have one bunny. (Really Amber, "let's be happy??")

Okay, so it wasn't the best attempt, and my mom laughed really loud when I retold her my story to which she sarcastically responded, "Doesn't she understand the glass is half-full?" Nope. Ryan is heading over there tonight to pick up the animals just in case I hear cries for "the penguin" in the middle of the night. God knows there is no way I am going to be able to reason my way out of that one at 2 a.m. when all coping skills have exited the premises.

Change

I made a change today. Instead of putting dishes on the right side of the sink counter to dry, they now go on the left side. Okay, okay, I can hear your laughter, but this really is a matter-of-the-heart change for me. You see, a month or so ago Ryan expressed his desire to keep the right-side counter of the sink clear of dishes so that it wouldn't look cluttered. My compassion-filled heart responded (in my head, of course), "Well, he who does the dishes gets to choose. So I choose the right-side. It's what I have done for almost 2 years now." But today something was different. We decorated the house with our Christmas ornaments and items, set up Grandma's Christmas Tree for her and listened to Xmas carols most of the morning. Sometime after the decorating was finished, I decided the dishes needed to be done and just yesterday Ryan had been asking if we had a dish-drying wrack to put on the left-side of the sink. He had again expressed his desire to dry our dishes to the left of the sink. I had to do a little bit of organizing; finding a place for a basket of pens, putting away some cleaning supplies we keep to "the left," and putting the sippy cups away which have lived there for I don't know how long. But, after my heart was into the task, it was easy. I wonder how many other habits I am not kicking just because I am stubborn and don't want to change. I am sure I could list a few million. Guess I better take this change stuff one day at a time.

Smelly Cows

We made the long drive home yesterday, and man did those cows stink it up on the 5! I haven't smelt anything so bad in a long time. When we passed the last batch of cows I felt like we were stuck in a porta-potty with no way out! Sage was pinching her nose and almost in tears saying, "It's stinky, it's stinky," and Aspen was screaming at the top of her lungs, "Get me out of the car!" Ryan played DJ and we karaoke'd our way through the grapevine, singing at the top of our lungs, Sage looking at us like we were crazy while she was watching yet another episode of Dora. Our singing put Aspen to sleep and kept us awake enough to make it the last leg home. It feels good to be home, but I can't say that I don't miss the cabin, the snow, exclusive family time and everything else that comes with vacation. Well, time to unpack, do laundry, clean up after breakfast and do all those other things that come with being back home. Here are the photos from our trip.

I'm Dreaming of a White Thanksgiving?

Look what we woke up to!

Vacation within a Vacation

We haven't had Internet service up here in Tahoe, or so we thought. Ryan tried connecting while up in the loft of the cabin and he was able to get a couple bars, just enough to connect to the world. It's funny, we just had this conversation last night about how great it is to get away without cell phones ringing, emails waiting for responses and tasks luring over our heads. It's a true get away. But the generation X in us still wants to be connected to the world, I guess, because as soon as Ryan told me we had Internet service upstairs I became so excited! So, I am on "vacation," as Ryan puts it. He and Sage are playing video games on the new Wii he bought for church (he has to work it in and get used to it, right?) and I am taking a vacation upstairs. Life is good. It looks really cold outside, wind rustling through the ginormous pine trees, but we are nice and cozy in Grandma's mountain cabin. Later today we are going to venture out to get our family picture by the lake, maybe watch some ice skating in the Town Center and then come back to the cabin to enjoy one last night of our mountain vacation. Some funny things that have happened this trip ...

- We were (okay, Ryan was driving) to the store and took a turn really hard (we weren't lost though -- no way!) and Sage said, "Whoa! Like a roller coaster!"
- Aspen covers up her face with a blanket or whatever she can find and plays peekaboo with us.
- Sage is giving her my little ponies "time-outs" ... (oh gosh! Is that what I sound like?)
- I called Sage a little girl and she said, "Mommy, I am a big girl." And I said, "I know you are." And she responded, "But you called me a little girl."

Okay, "vacation" is over. Time to take a much needed shower. Hope there is enough hot water!

Drive to Tahoe

After two cups of coffee, one cup of tea, one really gross energy drink, a gazillion Dora shows, one viewing of The Little Mermaid (all scary parts neatly edited out by dad), one viewing of Curious George, 1/2 viewing of Cars, one stop at McDonald's, one stop at Togo’s, 2 stops to fill up gas (love the Element, don’t love it’s lack of a gas tank), one Rob Bell sermon and one reading of Parent’s Magazine (with very few interruptions!), we have arrived at Lake Tahoe. Leaving at 4a.m. proved, yet again, to be the solution for the 8+ hour drive to the mountains. Sage pretty much watched TV the entire drive and Aspen took one nap and then just hung out with only a few little outbursts of, “I AM SO BORED!” It is cold but not too cold here. Just enough cold to make it feel like winter is here and it’s actually okay to celebrate Thanksgiving now. A total tangent, but we bought these light-up rubber ducks at the store that can go in water and it is the best $5 I have spent in a long time. Sage and Aspen held one each on the way back from the store, and in the dark our car looked like a disco-teca. Sage calls us back to her darkened bedroom to see the ducks, “glow up,” as she puts it. Needless to say, we are having a blast!