Christmas in California part 1

This is going to be a multi-parter, since there was so much activity packed into a weeklong trip. My dad was generous enough to offer to fly us out to California if we wanted for our Christmas gift, and after initially declining, I decided (and convinced Jenna) that we should go ahead and make the trip this year, since future years will be all spent at home and I hadn't seen everyone in a long time. We chose wisely as this was the first of three Christmases since we've been in Colorado that wasn't a white one.

The trip started out pretty interesting. As we were taxiing out of our gate, the pilot got on the intercom and announced that the west half of the airport was shut down for some unknown reason, and we were going to be delayed. We found out on arrival in Burbank that the reason for the delay and shutdown was that Continental flight that crashed on takeoff. Suffice it to say, that an hour delay sounded pretty reasonable given the circumstances.

We got to the Hoskinsons house (my parents) and put Laina to bed, then spent the next day at their house with Laina's three cousins (who were eagerly awaiting her arrival) and aunt and uncle (my brother and his wife). The kids had a great time playing with their cousin Laina, showing them as much fun stuff as they could come up with in a day. We went outside for a while and they all spontaneously broke out in a production of "The Wheels on the Bus" to Laina's sheer delight. I can't decide if she got a front row seat or she's the star of the show.

We basically spent the whole day hanging out, playing games, and watching the kids parade around the house with Laina. She loved it. We spent the night there, then headed up to the Ali's house (Jenna's parents) Monday for Christmas #1. That's all for part one. Here's some pics:

This is a classic "lets make the kids stand facing directly into the sun" picture... sorry guys

Dueling lego towers action. Later I started building lego robots for battle, and Kaity (red dress) kept asking me "Can you build another mighty robot Uncle Colorado Jay?" How could I refuse? Although I don't know how mighty they were if Conner kept destroying them. Incidentally, I'm "Uncle Colorado Jay" because they have another Uncle "J"

We discovered that Laina just perfectly fit inside the lego wagon, along with a teddy bear buddy, so many laps were made with her in tow (with all three cousins getting a 'turn'). Luckily she loves wagons.

She WALKS

Yes, it could be considered a Christmas Miracle! Just one day short of 20 months, Laina decided she can walk all by herself. She has been consistently walking with Jay or me holding her hands, and just in the last couple days would walk a little bit holding onto only one hand. We knew she had the balance and skill to do it on her own, but we thought she was afraid to try. Well today she conquered that fear. I was in our bathroom putting on makeup, and Laina crawled over and asked for the headband on the counter. I gave it to her and continued getting ready. Then I looked over and saw her walking on the tile, all the way across our not-small bathroom. (I love how she picks the hardest floor to fall on for her first walk!) When she got to the carpet, she sat down (for a break I guess), then got back up and continued walking on the carpet, half way across the bedroom, where she sat down again. Then she got up and walked right out of the bedroom and down the hallway! Of course I didn't have our camera with me upstairs, so I had to re-create the moment later. I particularly like how the lighting at the beginning makes it look even more like a Christmas Miracle.

eating crayons

Why is it that the baby doesn't eat crayons - the dog does? I should have taken a picture of the evidence the other day when Ella chewed up a crayon and left little bits and pieces of it all over the floor. And just now I caught her with another one in her mouth. Oh but she sure is cute, isn't she?

Story Time

Laina has been so cute lately, reading stories to her baby dolls and stuffed animals. I caught her on video yesterday reading "Go, Dog, Go" to Little Nut Brown Hare, who she calls Brown Hare. I'm putting both videos I took up here only for the grandparent's sake...I know most people will be bored by the same thing twice. She just says a few different things each time.

Also, check my other blog for my very own banana date bread recipe which I improvised from a few online recipes.

Bah-humbug

Jay's post was correct. I've been feeling a little like Scrooge this holiday season - like, can we just pretend it's not Christmas time? Can I just not deal with decorating, shopping, party-going, traveling, merry-making and the like? I told Jay I did not want to put up our tree this year (the awesome, retro-inspired, all-white tree that I love) or do any other decorations. So, Jay (and his little elf, Laina) did everything. It was great. They put on Christmas music, put up the tree, decorated it, decorated the fireplace, Jay did even more with the outside lights, and I worked on a crafty project for my church mom's group.

It was pretty much Laina that turned me around. She was of course so adorable, completely enamored with all the ornaments and decorations, asking "what's that" about everything, helping decorate the tree, and being so enchanted with the season. And, as Jay pointed out, it also snowed, making the day perfect. Jay and Laina built a snowman. I couldn't help myself and had to get the camera out to take pictures of everything. To make it a truly perfect season, I'll just have to make sure Jay understands that he has to also take down all the ornaments after Christmas!

There is still stress and lots going on, but I realize I need to focus on what's important, namely Jesus. I'm not typically the scripture-quoting type, but I find myself thinking a lot about the verse that says in my weakness, Christ is made strong (or something like that - see, told you I'm not good at quoting scripture). I really can't push through all the stress and chaos in life without Jesus. Only he has the power to bring order and peace. I am convicted that I need to get back into regular reading and studying of his word. I know that will help me during this time (and always!) It's so easy to push quality time with God (or anyone) aside and get so consumed with me, me, me, and what I've got going, and what I need to accomplish. So that's my intro to this holiday season of 2008. My prayer for myself this season is that God will remind me to focus on him, help me find a consistent time to study his word, and that he will help me embrace this season - of the year and of life.

On a lighter note, see my other blog for the Chocolate Yogurt Cake recipe Jay promised.

Oh, and one more thing that will completely get me into the holiday spirit - watching my favorite Christmas movie ever - Elf (cuz, you know, that one's totally about Jesus!)

Thanksgiving-ish

We don't have any pictures of Thanksgiving, but we stuck around in town and celebrated with our friends the Heldts in Castle Rock. We brought over the game Rock Band to play in their shiny new basement on the gigantic screen with intense surround sound (though my ps2 doesn't have surround), enjoyed a delicious and gluttonous feast thanks to Mike and Rachel, Mike's brother Kevin and his family, and our contributions... one of which I'm sure Jenna plans to post a recipe. All the kids had a good time (I believe there were 7 kids there between our three fams), and Laina especially enjoyed the cranberry sauce (takes after her dad). We stuck around late and played some pool and darts on their fresh table and dartboard while Laina slept upstairs.

Here's a picture I stole from the Heldts blog of the whole crew:


Friday was 'deck the house' day. Jenna was feeling pretty scroogy this year, didn't want to put up a tree or anything since we're heading out to California for Christmas, but I put on the music, broke out the tree and the ornaments (which captivated Laina), and proceeded as normal. Laina loved the ornaments, especially the "little guys" and the ladybug, which she's hanging in the photo below

That night we went to check out the Parker "Tree Lighting", though we realized quickly there was no specific tree, it was really the lighting of an entire area at the entrance to 'downtown' Parker. We stuck around, but it started getting really cold, so we walked through town a little, got some free hot chocolate and checked out the horse-drawn carriage rides, then wandered back for the big event. We then snapped a quick photo and got out of there... it was freezing!


Shortly after we got home, it started to snow. Pretty good timing, as we'd just gotten the tree up and the outside lights up, and our neighbors lit up their houses, making quite the scene. This morning we woke up to a couple of inches of snow, so Laina and I went outside and made a snowman (my first ever, I think, and not very impressive... I think I worked out a few kinks on this one, though).


So after all the lights, the music, the tree, the cute kid getting all excited, and finally the snow, I think Jenna's coming around...

"Music!"

Our old school CD changer full of little finger prints

Laina loves music. She loves to dance. She loves to sing. Every day she holds up the remote to the receiver and says "music on". This usually happens in the mornings after breakfast. Then if the music is turned off later in the day, she inevitably asks for it to be turned on again sometime after her nap. It's totally fine with me, because I love music, too. And so does Jay. That must be where she gets it from.

For all you ladder users...

Last year I started wondering if anyone had some kind of pole for putting up christmas lights after struggling in the cold trying to get past some trees to get the lights on the roof, and having some close calls with ladder wobbles. I sort of found something, but decided to wait until next year. Well, its next year, and it turns out Target has them.

Unfortunately I couldn't find a single review online from anyone that had successfully used one, so I was skeptical that it could just be a gimmicky piece of junk, but I decided to give it a shot. Well, it worked, and it worked beautifully! No ladder necessary, and it went way faster than normal due to the lack of repositioning and climbing up and down.

Its called the "No ladder Light Hanging Kit", and its basically a different kind of gutter/shingle clip that has a spot for a telescoping pole to thread into. You just screw on the clip, hook the light string (either on the ground or up in the air), clip it on the gutter/shingle, then unscrew and move on to the next one. It was really pretty easy, other than the slight kink in the neck you get from looking up so much. It also comes with an attachment for putting lights up in trees, which I used to do the trees at the office, and started doing our trees in the front yard. Way easier than trying to do that with a ladder last year.


Here's some pics:

Screw on the clip

Hook it on the string and the gutter

And move on to the next one!

Anyway, I figured I'd pass along the tip for anyone that is planning to put up lights next weekend. Its a real time saver, as well as possibly saving you a trip to the ER from falling off a ladder (I always hear of someone falling every year).

Happy hanging!

Twilight Movie Review

I'm going to keep this fairly short because I don't want to give out too much info and spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet.

I went into this movie with pretty low expectations. I loved the book, and movies never live up to the books, so I really wasn't sure if I would even like it at all. But, I was still very excited to see it and see how it would be on the big screen, and to have a night out with the girls. Over all, I liked it! As with all books that are made into movies, there is just so much to try and cram into 2 hours. I did feel like it was rushed and the story didn't develop as well as in the book. I'm not sure that someone who didn't read the book would really know what's going on. Yes, I think they would be entertained, but they wouldn't get a lot of the "inside" stuff going on. But, with that said, I really think that 99% of the movie's audience are people who have read the book.

I think Kristin Stewart was a perfect Bella. I know some people are critical of her performance, but I thought she was totally believable as Bella and acted the part just right.

Rob Pattinson as Edward I have mixed feelings about. There were definitely some great moments where he absolutely was Edward. But then there were some where he seemed too stiff, too forced, not the suave, debonair Edward of a century past. I am very hopeful for his performances in subsequent movies, though. I think he is still a young actor and is definitely going to get better with future films.

Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black was absolutely perfect. I don't think they could have cast a better person for the role. I already wish he had a bigger part and am anxious to see more of him in New Moon. He makes what happens in New Moon so much more believable for me, and I could totally see how Bella could be torn between him and Edward. That is one part of the story that I think actually came across better on the big screen than it did in the book.

Charlie was acted well but he definitely didn't look the way I imagined. For some reason I pictured him older, heavier, and a little balding. Renee on the other hand was perfect.

Victoria, James, and Laurent were all great. The actors looked and played their parts well.

The Cullens - I think Alice, Emmett, and Jasper were great. Rosalie I think was portrayed perfectly, but her apperance was not what I expected. She is supposed to be devastatingly beautiful, the most beautiful of all the Cullens, and she just didn't do it for me. I expected a more victorian, refined lady. She had a "Pollyana" feel to me. I was dissapointed in both Carlile and Esme. I think their parts (what little there was) were played ok, but they just didn't have the same feel as in the book.

All of Bella's high school friends I thought were pretty good. No one had a real big part there, and I wish thier characters would have been developed a little more.

I think that sums up all of the more major players.

One thing that I really loved in the movie, much more so than the book, was the baseball scene. In the book, I have to be honest, it bored me. In the movie it was really exciting, fun, and of course a perfect introduction to the villans. I'm also thrilled there was, in fact, a Port Angeles scene, as I heard they were not going to do it. That is my favorite scene in the book and I'm glad it was in the movie. I'm not sure how I feel about the extra scenes they added to the movie that were not in the book. I feel like they could have left them out and spent more time doing something more productive, like more character development.

All in all, I had a great night, I liked the movie, and I definitely want to see it again. And the big news just released today? New Moon is a confirmed GO! Check it out here! (Oops, I did a pretty bad job at keeping this short...)

Today

The past 2 months have felt very hectic for me. There have been lots of parties, meetings, church things, etc. Today is the first day there is absolutely nothing on my schedule, except one thing that I have been looking forward to for months - the Twilight Movie release!!! (Yes, I know that this poster has the wrong release date on it, it must be an old version before the release was moved up, but this is my favorite one that I could fine online).

I am heading to the 4:10 showing with a couple of my neighbors. One said neighbor's husband is off of work this afternoon and will graciously be watching Laina from the time we need to leave until Jay gets home from work. After the movie, we are going out to sushi at Junz. What a perfect afternoon and evening.

Actually, it's about as close to perfect as possible for the whole day. It was so nice to have the morning free from rushing to get to something and instead just be able to hang out with Laina. We had a yummy acai berry smoothie for breakfast, played, had leftover chicken tortellini soup for lunch, took a walk outside in the gorgeous weather, and now Laina is napping. While she's napping, I am listening to a Rock Harbor worship CD: This Day (which Laina suggested I put on by saying "music on" before her nap), catching up on some blogging, and then will be getting ready to go out tonight. Seriously, this is one of the best day's I've had in a long time.

I'll let you all know what I think of the movie tomorrow or Sunady.

Banana Muffin Recipe

I had a fabulous jewelry party this morning and my friend, Kitty, asked for the recipe for the banana muffins I made. So, here it is. Sorry I didn't know the recipe would be requested otherwise I would have taken some pics!

Banana Muffins

2 1/2 cups flour (I use unbleached)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups mashed bananas (approx 4-6 bananas)
1/2 canola oil
1/2 cup milk (I used 1%)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly grease 12-muffin tin.
Mix dry ingredients together (flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt) in large bowl
Mix brown sugar, bananas, oil, milk, eggs and vanilla in separate bowl
Make a well in the center of the mixed dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients in
Mix until moistened but still lumpy. Do NOT over mix (this will make muffins tough)
Divide batter evenly into prepared tin
Bake 20-25 mins until golden
Cool muffins in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to cool

The above is how I did it. As I read through my recipe another time here, I realized I did something wrong, yet the muffins still came out great. The recipe says that when you put the muffins into the oven to reduce the temp to 375 degrees F. I totally skipped this, and my muffins came out great - cooking at 425 for about 23 mins. I think this may have to do with the altitude here (6100'). The recipe also calls for 3/4 cup chopped walnuts, but I don't really care for walnuts so I just left them out. My muffin tins were filled pretty full with the batter sans nuts, so I imagine if you did add nuts you might have enough batter for one and a half muffin tins. If you do fill a muffin tin only partially, be sure to fill the empty spots with some water so the muffins still cook evenly.

Enjoy!

Goat Farm

Check out the Laina's Laundry blog to see my post on the goat farm we visited over the weekend!

This guy above was the huge turkey next door!

The Ministry of Silly Walks

There's a Monty Python sketch called "The Ministry of Silly Walks", which I'm pretty sure Laina has never seen, but seems to have the idea down... She apparently just can't keep from shaking her booty when there's music playing in the house...

Check out my other blog...

I decided to do more posting over on my other blog, www.lainaslaundry.blogspot.com. Be forewarned - most of the posting will be related to womanhood and such, possibly with "too much information" for some readers. The blog was originally started to showcase products and updates to my baby shop on Etsy, but there is rarely any news on that front, and I wanted a more public outlet for some of the topics I want to discuss, which aren't necessarily related to family. So, if you have an inclination to find out what keeps my little brain up at night, check it out.

First Snow

Today we woke up to the first snow we've had of the season! It is absolutely beautiful and it started to really warm up so I put on Laina's snowsuit (from late last year and it still fits, sort of) and we headed out to play. Our neighbor who nannies for another neighbor was also out with little Taylor so we tried to get the girls to play in the snow together but Laina wasn't too excited about that idea.

Unrelated, but still blog-worthy is the fact that Laina is getting so imaginative and playing with her dolls and stuffed animals like a mommy. She puts them down for naps, changes their diapers, and just today she even read a book to her doll. I really wanted to run and get the camera but I knew the moment would be over before I could get back. Maybe next time I'll be ready beforehand.

Whassat?

"What's That?" Has become Laina's favorite phrase of the last couple weeks. She points at everything and asks the question, "what's that?" (sometimes comes out "whassat?"). If she wasn't so adorable it would get pretty annoying. If she wasn't so adorable there would probably be a lot of things about her that would be outright obnoxious... but the cuteness factor overrides all...

The upside is that "what's that?" is a better phrased question than "This?" which is how she used to ask the name of things, and her vocabulary is continually increasing exponentially because of the question... not many 18 month-olds know the terms "orzo", "falafel", "soul patch","sand dunes", and "window sill", but pointing and asking gets the job done...

Of course she does enjoy the pointing and asking sometimes more than the learning, which is why she'll ask you five times in a row what the doggy is... oh, she knows its a doggy, she's just messing with your head...

Also a recent obsession is her cars. All cars, all the time. She got a toy happy-meal car a couple weeks ago from a friend of Jenna's, and became really attached to it. So I took her out and got her some little tonka cars, which she loves (especially the bus). Also, showing her the movie "Cars" probably didn't help. Every night when I get home the first thing she says is "Daddy, play cars!" Here she is proudly holding three at once (she couldn't decide between the bus, the tow truck, or the ice cream truck)... and apparently I was really sweaty for some reason.

Turning 30

Today is a monumental day - I turn 30. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about it, and when I asked Jay what we were going to do for my birthday (this was a few weeks ago), he asked if I just wanted to wallow in my sorrows. I thought I would be down about turning 30, but really I just feel indifferent. However, in my head, I know I should be thankful to God for giving me the gift of the past 30 years. I know that every single day is a gift.

Anyways, enough with my poor philosophizing, and on to the activities of the big day, which we actually celebrated yesterday. It was a busy day because we had church in the morning, I had a riding lesson in the afternoon, we had bible study at 4:30, then we brought Laina home, got her dinner and a babysitter, and then headed out to the new outdoor area at Park Meadows mall called The Vistas. It was fun and somewhat modern with lots of cool firepits and trendy-looking restaurants. It was COLD though and I absolutely should have worn the new boots I got with birthday money (compliments of my parents - thanks!) instead of the "holey" tights and heels I wore.

First we went to Mikuni Sushi which was pretty good. They were out of some of the fish I wanted to try, like the O Toro (extra fatty tuna), but the regular toro was delicious and we tried a new one with a name I can't remember, but it was basically a white fish and you squeeze lemon on it. Not super impressive, but good. We also had unagi (freshwater eel) which basically tastes the same to me wherever we get it - good. The big star of our sushi show was the "Rockies roll" which was spicy tuna and crab on the inside, topped with albacore (white) and red tuna. What can I say, I'm a big fan of tuna. We should have taken a picture of this one as it was beautiful in addition to being delicious. The bummer of the night was the "crunchy dream roll" which sounded fabulous on the menu, but was really not that great. Over all I did like Misuki, until I found out it was a chain, then I didn't like it as much. I do like some chain restaurants, but something about having a sushi chain just didn't seem right. Oh, and also, it always seems werid to me when you get non-ethnic people serving you, like the super white guy that served us. Oh well.

Then after sushi, we walked over to the other restaurants to check out the menus and find something for dessert. I loved the stylish new Mexican restaurant, La Sandia, and while we didn't stay for dessert, we liked the ambiance and the patio up top with a firepit and bar. I defnitely want to head back there to check out the food - it smelled great! For dessert, we decided on a place called the White Chocolae Grill, even though white chocolate is not my favorite. They had a molten non-white chocolate souffle though which was delicious.

The best part? Coming home to gifts wrapped in paper that Jay and Laina decorated. I loved the coloring and Laina even signed her own name in my card! If you use your imagination, you can see the "L", "i" and "n" pretty clearly from the pic. You can really make out the whole name in person! Jay got me a "task chair" for my workstation in the basement, along with a space heater because it's dang cold down there! It's not as good as a fully finished basement, but it will have to do for this winter ;) Speaking of winter, today is feeling very wintry and I've got pea soup simmering in the crock pot for dinner...should be yummy! I need to get some hot apple cider and a cinnamon stick and turn on the fireplace!

Laina's Artwork

I was doing some work on the computer and Laina was contentedly playing on the floor by the bench we keep our shoes under. This is the masterpiece she created all by herself. Really, it is pretty impressive in person. A nice arc with the one tennis shoe up at it's top.

Sheep says 'Baa', Chuck Norris says 'Boo'

Laina was an adorable little lamb for Halloween this year, and Jenna went as Little Bo Peep. Normally a thick fluffy costume for Laina is great, since its usually cold on Halloween here, but this year was really unusual for Colorado in that it was in the upper 70s, which made it not a long-lasting costume. We hit about 3 houses and went to a neighborhood 'progressive dinner' party (or something like that) and hung out with all the neighbors.

I came up with another last minute cheapo costume and yet again won a prize at the office costume contest... this year it was "best all around"... I'm starting to feel bad about winning all the time... that's 3 for 3. My Chuck Norris costume cost me all of $7 ($2 shirt and $5 vest). I modified a mullet wig I already had for the hairdo...

Best of all was a day full of Chuck Norris jokes:

Chuck Norris doesn't dress up to be scary on Halloween. Halloween is already afraid of Chuck Norris.

Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table, because he only recognizes the element of surprise.

There is no chin behind Chuck Norris' beard. Only another fist.

Chuck Norris does not get frostbite. Chuck Norris bites frost.

Contrary to popular belief, America is not a democracy. Its a Chucktatorship.

(courtesy www.chucknorrisfacts.com, except for the Halloween one)

Halloween with Horses

A couple weekends ago Jay and I took Laina to "Halloween with Horses", a big production at the Colorado Horse Park here in Parker. We've (well, I) wanted to go every year since we've lived here, but this is the first year the weather was pretty nice. We went after Laina's nap, and unfortunately, missed all of the costume classes, which was what we (I) really wanted to see! By the time we got there, there weren't even any horses around, at all! There were a few trusty ponies, however, giving pony rides to the kids, so we tried to let Laina take a ride. She was completely fine with it...until the pony started moving, then she got scared. I was pretty broken up about it, you know, really hoping Laina will be a horse-crazy kid like I was (am). Jay, on the other hand, I think was secretly happy about the whole incident...you know, with horses being quite an expensive and potentially dangerous hobby. We'll see though, there is still plenty of time.

Besides the costume classes which we missed and the pony rides which Laina didn't like, they had 2 trick-or-treat barns, pumpkin painting, Jack Russell Terrier races, a bunch of other demos, and a little vendor area where we sampled some local honey and also some local homemade ice cream. Mmmmm. I think next year will be really fun because we'll know to check the schedule before we go, and with Laina being older I think she will have a lot of fun doing the various activities (hopefully including riding a pony!)

The Wheels on the Bus...

is Laina's favorite song. Here is a little clip of her singing it:

She also LOVES coloring, so Jay brought these HUGE papers home for to her create her masterpieces on!

more fall colors

This is the most beautiful display of color in the neighborhood, and it's right in our own culdesac!

Laina Update

Time for another Laina update. She is 18 months old! Sometimes I really can't believe she is already so big. It's a little crazy. We had our follow-up appointment at Children's Hospital for her weight and they were very satisfied this time with her weight gain and height. She is still on the small side, of course, but the doctor was pleased that she is gaining weight and that she is actually closer to the "curve" instead of falling farther away from it. My guess for her great increase over the past couple months is that it's due to a combination of factors, including the zinc supplementation, getting her on a good children's multi-vitamin, and her eating from my smoothies (in addition to her normal meals and snacks). The doctor was, not surprisingly, impressed by her language skills and was confident that her lack of weight was not hindering her development.

We also had her 18 month old well-check with her normal doctor and that was fine, too. The main suggestion she had for me was to not support her so much when walking with her, but instead to hold her by the hands and even try to just have her hold one hand as she walks to gain more balance and independence in her walking. As far as vaccinations, we decided to go ahead and finish out any series that had already been started, but to hold off on chickenpox and MMR for a little while longer. I love the fact that her new doctor didn't feel the need to lecture me on vaccines but just polietly suggested that I consider giving the shots before Laina starts school, which is what we were thinking, anyways.

Here are a couple pics of Laina during the "photo shoot" we did to get some shots of her modeling the dresses I made for my Etsy shop. In the bottom one I think she looks a lot like Jay did in some of his little kid photos.

almond butter

yum is about the best word for it. I have a new favorite nut butter - almond butter! I don't know if it's any healthier than peanut butter, but it certainly is a tasty variation. Yesterday I spread it on apples and then sprinkled cinnamon on top. It was like a gourmet treat right from my own kitchen! Laina loved it, too.

5-Day Reset + Quinoa Recipe

Since I've had a couple requests to know how this went, I decided to post about it here. Last week I completed a 5-day cleanse called RESET and it really was great. I was a little skeptical at first but I did it and I'm so glad I did. It isn't a starvation cleanse or super colon cleanse or anything like that. It's designed to get your body in a totally healthy state and cleanse your body of unhealthy cravings for sugar and hi-glycemic foods. A "side effect" is weight loss, and even though I absolutely did not do it to lose weight, I still lost 5 lbs! Crazy.

In keeping with the healthfullness, tonight I made delicious Quinoa-stuffed tomatoes and I wanted to share the recipe:

1 cup Quinoa
2 cups water
pinch sea salt
2 Tbs olive oil
2 shallots, minced (I just used 1/2 small onion)
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 lb crimini mushrooms, minced
1/2 tsp whole fennel seeds, crushed
1/4 marsala wine
2 Tbs Tamari (or soy sauce)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro or basil (I used basil)
4 roasted tomatoes

Cook quinoa according to package directions (which is basically like rice, 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups water w/pinch of salt, bring to boil, cover and simmer 15 mins or until water is all absorbed)

Saute shallots/onions in olive oil. Add mushrooms, dried basil and fennel seeds and saute until mushrooms are dark brown. Add cooked quinoa and mix well. Add marsala and tamari and mix well. Reduce heat and cover for a few minutes to let flavors mingle. Remove from heat and add fresh cilantro or basil and mix well. Fill roasted tomatoes and enjoy!

(To roast the tomatoes - cut off tops and scoop out a bit of the inner. Rub outside with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and roast on cookie sheet in 450 degree oven until slightly soft.) I way overcooked my tomatoes and they completely fell apart, so be sure to watch them!

Fall

It is cool today and really feeling like fall. The leaves are gorgeous red and orange and I absolutely love this change in seasons. I bought a couple pumpkins yesterday to put on the porch and today I bundled Laina up and took a brief stroll around the neighborhood to look at all the changing colors. I can't wait to make some hearty stews and warm soups and yummy pumpkin pie! I never realized how much I love fall until we moved to Colorado!

Laina got another tooth in the other day and a 5th one is barely cracking through now, too. She is constantly learning new things - her vocabulary is expanding exponentially of course, and she is starting to talk in (mostly) complete sentences. She also has learned to stand up all by herself in the middle of the room and balances standing all by herself for a few seconds. She is so proud of herself for doing this and then will flop back to the ground and do a little crawling strut all around the room. It's really pretty funny and we should probably get some video of it.

Laina also exclaims loudly "Daddy's home!" in the cutest high-pitched squeal I've ever heard every evening when Jay gets home from work.

Other things I am looking forward to this season are the long-awaited return of my favorite series, "24," the Twilight movie which comes out on Nov 21 (watch the final trailer for it on the Twilight Guy's blog), and having some time to read Stephen Lawhead's "Hood" which I picked up the other day and cannot wait to get into as Robin Hood is one of my all-time favorite stories and I'm anxious to hear it from Lawhead's perspective.

blog catch up

I've been so ridiculously busy lately that I haven't had time at all to update the blog. Well, here are some updates: Laina is a year and a half (wow!) and cute as ever with personality oozing from her pores, my craft fair came and went and wasn't too terribly exciting (probably sold just enough to cover my space rental, but I don't know for sure because my booth mate, Lauren, was keeping track of all things finance), we went to Lake Tahoe for my dear friend Heather's wedding, and I started a new at home business involving nutrition, supplements, and general health and wellness. I am still recovering from a long day at the craft fair yesterday, so that's about all the text I can type at the moment, now enjoy some pics from the aforementioned events:

Jay's self-portrait of us at the wedding

the gorgeous sunset the day of Heather's wedding

All the "barn girls" of the wedding

An absolutely beautiful ceremony overlooking Lake Tahoe from Sand Harbor

we stopped by my grandma's and aunt's on the way back to the Sacramento airport

Laina examining the sand at one of the beaches in Tahoe

the "b-i-i-i-i-i-i-g lake" as Laina calls it
(this is really Emerald Bay which actually is emerald color in real life, just not in our pictures)

my parents were gracious enough to
drive up to Tahoe for the weekend to watch Laina while we were at the wedding

Some of my dresses as we set up for the craft fair