February Review

R1 - I wrote to both my grandmas. Seems so not impressive, but whatever.

R2 - Ben pointed out a major mistake in my resolution for walking Zoey - too easy to fail! He encouraged me to rework it so that I could make it. So, instead of walking her 5 times a week, my goal is to walk her 250 miles this year (5 times a week x 1 mile x 50 weeks - roughly what I did before Adelyn was born). So, that's my new goal. Unfortunately, this has caused me to slip back into laziness. I hope to get back into walking this month! And once it's warm again, I can take Adelyn with, which will make it easier to go on a walk. Anyway, I have walked 10.5 miles so far this year, leaving 239.5 to go.

R3 - I was able to run 6.5 miles. That brings the total to 12.5 miles, leaving 137.5 to go. I'm thinking about doing a tri in May, so that would help bring my total up as I train for it.

R4 - This is the easiest goal for me. This month I made:

Chocolate Stout Cake - recipe from Real Simple. It turned out pretty good even though I put all the chocolate in the cake instead of reserving some for the frosting. Oops. :)

Coconut Chicken with Mango Salsa - pretty tasty, although would like more of the coconut flavor to come through. I might experiment with marinating in coconut milk or something.

Asian Style Meat Loaves - This was yummy! I got this recipe from a friend. I know that I said before that I don't like meat loaf, but this was totally different.

Beef with Smokey Pepper Sauce - This was also pretty good. It tasted better as leftovers though after the flavors mingled a bit more. Recipe from BH&G Magazine.

Ginger Pork Sandwiches - This was ok... the flavors were good, but strangely, you couldn't really taste the pork. Ben thought you could make a mean vegetarian sandwich by just making it without the pork. Recipe from BH&G Magazine.

I also made Oatmeal Fudgy Bars, a recipe from Ben's mom. But Ben said I couldn't count it since he's had them before. Not sure if I agree with his logic, but I made 5 recipes without that one, so I guess we can go with that.

What a Trooper!

Last week we went to Florida to watch the launch of the space shuttle Discovery. It was a very neat experience. We didn't do the best job of figuring out where to watch it from, so we weren't as close as we would have liked. But we did have a great view and had a lot of fun.

The way the flights worked out, we didn't leave until 7:20 at night. And then our flight was delayed. Adelyn usually goes to be bed between 6:30 and 7. But she did great! Smiled at the flight crew. And then snuggled in for some sleep. She woke up when we landed and stayed awake through the car ordeal...

We had reserved a car. When we got to the car rental counter, the guy told us that the manager was down there where the cars were and that if we acted mad, they would comp the gas and give us half off. I thought he was trying to give us an inside scoop on how to get the car cheaper, so I joked with him about it... then he said they only had vans left. Not just any vans, 15-passenger vans. Oh, ok. Got it. We are mad about that. So we went down to get the car. And we waited. And waited. Not sure where the vans were coming from, but we ended up waiting for over one and a half hours for it. Towards the end Adelyn started to get cranky, and so was I. But we got our sweet ride and left the airport.

In the great state of Florida, there are Steak n' Shakes. This was our one chance to go there. So we were "those" parents and brought Adelyn there at 2 am. She had napped in the van, so she was awake and alert.

Finally, we made it to the hotel. But with our bellies full of burger, fries and shakes, we were pretty happy. We were the last to check in at the hotel. Thankfully we had prepaid, so they didn't give our room away. But, they didn't have any cribs left. Adelyn woke up when we were unloading the van. We made a bed for her out of extra pillows and a blanket. She thought it was a lot of fun to crawl out of her bed. Finally, she went to sleep.

After what seemed like a short night, we were up and on our way. We went to a deli that is owned by a guy that Ben knows for lunch. SO GOOD! We had a nice chat with him and then we rushed out the door to make it to the coast.

We started hitting some traffic. We both agreed that we did not want to watch the shuttle out of our ride's windows because we couldn't find or get to a place. So, we picked a rough area of where we wanted to be and headed that way. We ended up about 20 miles away from the launch, near Cocoa Beach. We had a great view and there were very few people. But being 20 miles away, we didn't see nearly the detail as we would have liked. One cool thing about being that far away was that we saw the launch and just as it was disappearing from view, we heard it. It was neat to have that much delay. Crazy!

We had dinner plans with some people we met at this year's IM cruise. Dinner was set for 6:15 just about 10 miles north of where we were. We had about an hour to get there. No problem, right? Wrong! Traffic was terrible. It was literally stopped. People were getting out of their cars to visit with other people. People were turning their cars off. RV's were pulling onto the shoulders to wait it out... We got to the restaurant around 7:15. Our friends had an even shorter distance to go and we beat them. But finally we connected and had a nice (??) Thai dinner. The question marks is because the service was terrible. It was the waitress's first night. And because of the launch it was a bit crazy. Luckily for us, we had great company. And Adelyn did great. Towards the end she started to get fussy, but by then it was after 9. Oh, and she did great in the traffic too - slept the entire time.

Even with the stop for dinner, there was still some traffic issues. We took a couple of side roads to avoid some of it. Ben let me take a nap. I don't even know what time we got back to the hotel. I think it was after 11. Adelyn was so sound asleep in her car seat, that we decided just to leave her there. But in our room, of course.

The next morning we were up at 5:30 to make our flight back home. It was a whirlwind of a trip, but we had so much fun!

Adelyn's First Valentine's Day

Last Friday Adelyn and I started preparing for Valentine's Day by making cards for the grandparents. I thought they were pretty cute, course it helps that Adelyn was the main attraction. :) I took a picture of her and had those printed out. Then I traced her feet onto pink paper. I cut those out and taped them together to make a heart. Then I wrote, "Be my Valentine" and had her sign her name. Cute, right?

I had talked to Ben about a possible new tradition - I thought it would be fun to make Valentine's Day a family event, not just for us. I figured we already had our anniversary to celebrate our love, so why not have a celebration of family love on Valentine's Day. He wasn't entirely convinced that was a good idea. But turns out it didn't really matter, because poor Adelyn was sick! She has a cough and runny nose and a fever. Poor girl. She woke up around 6 but then basically slept until 11 or so. So, Ben and I took advantage of Grandma's offer to hold and snuggle our little sick girl so we could do lunch.

We decided to go to Crave. But when we got there, their ventilation system was broken, so their menu was very limited. So, we ended up at Redstone instead. We had the cornbread (can you go there and not get that?), Jerk fondue, chopped salad, fries and key lime pie for dessert. Everything was very good. After Adelyn went to bed, we watched a movie and had popcorn and ice cream (we were still full from our late and big lunch).

Aside from Adelyn being sick, it was a great day.

January Review

The first month of 2011 is basically over. And what a busy month! I owe a few posts about our adventures, but for now, here's how my resolutions are going.

R1: I wrote Grandma S once and went out with Grandma O twice. Both visits with GO were birthday related, but I figure the second time counts since I haven't ever gone to breakfast with her on her big day (because in the past I have been working).

R2: For the first half of the month, Zoey and I weren't together, so we didn't walk. When we got back home from our adventures, I had a nasty cough. And it was cold. Usually colds and the cold don't bother me, but this cough didn't appreciate cold air and would send me into a coughing fit. So, I waited until the cough was gone to start with our walks. That only left us the last week of the month to walk. I think she likes going on walks again.

R3: While on our cruise, I did run two days for a total of 4 miles (146 to go!). I would have run more often, but on port days I did plenty of swimming in the ocean and was too tired to do much more physical activity.

R4: I made 6 new recipes! I made:

Chicken Pasta Florentine - This was ok. Not very flavorful, but not bad either.

Boston Market Meatloaf - For meatloaf it was pretty good. I don't like meatloaf. Ben loves Boston Market's, so I gave it a try. While eating it, I was apologizing for never making meatloaf. Turns out Ben isn't really a fan either, but he just happens to like Boston Market's. So, I guess I don't have to make it again.

Spiced Halibut and Broccoli-Quinoa Pilaf - The fish was just ok. But the pilaf was great! Recipes were from RealSimple magazine.

Impossibly Good Chicken - I think that if it had a different name, I would have liked it better. It was good, but I was expecting awesome. Recipe from a Rachel Ray cookbook I have.

Hungarian Goulash - This is in the crock-pot for tonight. It's from my Forget It crock-pot cookbook.

It's a New Year

After taking last year off from New Year Resolutions, I'm ready to have some again. In no particular order...

Resolution 1 - Be More Involved With My Grandmas

While making krumkake this year, I realized that I don't spend nearly enough time with my Grandma O. I see her at birthdays and holidays and krumkake making days, but other than that, I rarely see or talk with her. This is just plain silliness. And it has got to stop. Neither of them are getting any younger, and I really should take advantage of their time. The plan is to talk or get together with my GO once a month, not including family functions. Since my GS lives in MO I plan to write to her once a month and plan a road trip to visit her (probably in the summer so I don't need to worry about snow and ice).

Resolution 2 - Walk the Dog

Back before I had Adelyn, I walked Zoey every M-F before getting ready for work. I loved having some quiet alone time with her. And she loved sniffing everything. Since Adelyn was born, I have been a major slacker. Those of you who are moms can relate, I'm sure, to how much a baby can throw off your routine. My plan is to walk Zoey 5 times a week, except for when she or I are out of town.

Resolution 3 - Run!

Two years ago, my resolution was to run 100 miles. And I did it. Then I was too pregnant to run. I really want to get back into running. I like it. I thought about just setting my goal at 100 again since last year I didn't run much at all. But I feel like running should be easier now that I don't work outside of the home. ??? So, the plan is to run 150 miles.

Resolution 4 - Be Creative in the Kitchen

Two years ago I also had a goal of making 2 new recipes a month. It was fun to try out new dishes and not have the same thing all the time. This time, the plan is to make 5 new recipes a month (2 is just way too easy). As part of this, I plan to start using some of my cookbooks that I rarely use. The other day I was looking for a recipe and realized that I have a lot of cookbooks with great sounding recipes that I never even look at.

I feel like there was another one, but I can't think of what it was. So, we'll just go with this list.

Adelyn's First Christmas

I loved celebrating Christmas with Adelyn this year. And from what I could tell, she loved it too!

On the 23rd, my mother-in-law came into town. She came in early so I could get any loose ends tied up without my little helper. But, I was already done with almost everything. But she still got to babysit so that Ben and I could go to the movies.

Christmas Eve day we celebrated with Ben's parents. Breakfast was coffee cake brought by Mickey. Lunch was "Those Sandwiches", veggies and dip and Jell-O Ribbon Salad. All was made ready the day before, we I just had to bake the sandwiches and set the table. Dinner was our traditional Chinese take-out.

Before dinner, we opened presents since Adelyn goes to bed usually before 7. She was much more involved in this process than I was expecting! She loved to tear the paper off the presents. It was so cute! Ben got a bit of video that I will put up on YouTube.

Christmas Day we went to my parents for brunch then to my Grandma's for dinner. It was a long day (we left home around 10:30 AM and got back around 7:30 PM). Adelyn was so excited to see Auntie Krys and Uncle Pranob (haven't seen them since August) and with everything else, that she didn't want to nap. I was sure that she was going to have a major melt-down at some point, but she didn't! As we were getting ready to leave my Grandma's she got super tired and whiny, but my cousin Leah kept her occupied until we were ready to leave. I thought she did great with all the commotion and new people.

This year, the Christmas story had a whole new meaning to me. I'm sure that Mary didn't know everything that her son would do for us, but if she had even an inkling of his sacrifice, I really don't know how she managed to hold it together. I would do anything to protect my Adelyn. I want to protect her from the evil and hurts in this world. I know that I can't and shouldn't protect her from everything and that breaks my heart. So instead, I pray that she will be strong enough to handle it and to mend quickly.

Merry Christmas!

First Stamp

This Thanksgiving, once again we hit the road. This time our destination was Costa Rica to visit Ben's brother and his family. To me it is so funny that infants need passports. But anyway, Adelyn in now the proud owner of a stamp from Costa Rica!

We had a great time while there. We were there for 10 days and honestly, the time went by super fast. Ben had to work a bunch while we were there, so I spent a good portion of my days with Sara and the kids. Simon was super interested in Adelyn. And by interested I mean that he kept poking her in her eyes. So, we had to keep those two separated. Once Adelyn can crawl and get away, I'm sure it will be an easier visit.

One day we drove to a volcano. I was so excited! And it was awesome. It was Volcano Poas. There is a great view of the current crater. It was busy cranking out clouds of sulfur. But it didn't stink as much as I thought it might. Then we hiked up to the old crater that has formed a lake. It was another awesome view. And an awesome workout to hike up to it. With a stroller.

The last part of our trip we went to Jaco so Ben could learn how to surf (his #1 priority for our trip). We rented a condo that was right on the beach. I LOVE being so close to the ocean. Watching the waves breaking is so relaxing. I could get used to that.

Two interesting things: 1. There are virtually no road names or signs in Costa Rica. You just have to know how to get there. Or know local landmarks. 2. If the Russian Mafia is after you, you can't just run to the embassy and expect them to let you in and protect you. You have to have an appointment...

In a very short nutshell, that was our trip. Ben and I are already talking about our next visit there.