The Great Tumble

Today I made a big decision. I want to be a better blogger. There are things I see every day that I want to post on my blog, but I don't really want to write a whole thing about it. On Blogger, I feel like I have to write a lot. I know that I don't have to, but I feel obligated. I've shared a tumblr with a friend for the last year, and for whatever reason I find it's easier to post quick stuff without all the writing over there. I think the term for this is microblogging? Perhaps I made that up. Anyway, I've decided to make the great tumble and roll over to Tumblr. If you follow me, please update your reader or links on your blog because clearly I don't want to lose one of my 3 readers.

Flea Market vs. Farmer's Market: The Assessment

First of all, I love using colons in titles.

Will and I headed out early yesterday to hit our various weekend errand spots, which included two key locations: the flea market and a local farmer's market. The purpose of both of these stops was to get some fresh stuff for the week. After making both stops, it was very clear that I was in the midst of two very different worlds, only about 8 miles apart. So, which is better or which do I prefer or which wins?

The Cost Assessment:

At the flea market, I got the following list for a whopping total of $7.

• 3 onions
• 2 jalapenos
• 2 bunches of cilantro
• 1 red pepper
• 1 green pepper
• 2 avocados
• 8 limes
• 2 lemons
• a giant bushel of green beans

At the farmer's market, I got the following list for $5.50

• a bag of peaches
• 1 zucchini

From that assessment, I think it's clear which place is a better deal. Flea Market-1, Farmer's Market-0

The Parking Lot Assessment:

At the flea market, the parking lot is gravel with giant pot holes that could probably break my car. The rows are sectioned off by those strings of pennant flags. The cars in the lot consist of beat up pickup trucks and other average cars that sort of all blend together. Nothing special. Will's Four Runner fits in nicely. At the farmer's market, I saw a Fiat, 5 BMW's, a Range Rover, 2 Lexus SUVs, and a Subaru wagon. Depending on which type of car you prefer to drive, maybe you would like to pick one place or another to buy your week's produce, but for me and my Toyota family, I fit in at the Flea Market. Flea Market-2, Farmer's Market-0

The People Assessment:

At the flea market, the two produce stands we go to regularly are run by Latino families. The parents are usually in charge, running the register, and then the kids all help out. The teenagers stock and bag and the little kids do stuff like moving potatoes from one bin to another or just running around being cute. I like these people. A lot. The people shopping at the flea market range in variety, so much variety that I can't even describe them because there's not one type, which I like. At the farmer's market, all of the stands are run by hipster types for the most part, except for one vendor. Really, I'm picturing ONE vendor that didn't look like he fit in. And for that, I bought his peaches. The people shopping consisted of a bunch of white people pretending that this was the cultural event of their weekend, carrying around these and other gorgeous tote bags for their produce. I'll admit, I use a baggu, but I got it free. So really though I also technically fit in, I really didn't at all. After writing this I now feel like I'm being judgmental, but then I checked this source. Apparently, I'm not the only one who realized that white people like this type of thing. For that, Flea Market-3, Farmer's Market-0

The Goods Assessment:

So what can you get at either place? At the Flea Market, there are tables with huge bins FULL of every vegetable and fruit you can think of. A bunch of stuff they have, I've never seen and have no clue how to prepare it. Yesterday, the thing that seemed most prized were the papaya, which were gigantic. Each one was wrapped in paper. Not sure why, but it looked cool. At the Farmer's Market, each vendor has one little folding table with a few baskets of produce, but nothing special really. One advantage of the Farmer's Market is that you can buy milk, eggs, beef, seafood, all of which were raised/produced in a nice, humane way. I'll give them half a point for this because it's nice, but only half, because for me, this doesn't matter at all since I have eggs in the backyard. I already buy organic milk, buy local SC seafood from a crazy seafood lady around the corner from my house, and don't eat enough beef to care. Other things that show the very huge difference between the two places is that at the Farmer's Market, there's a coffee shop where you can buy a latte, then swing right over to another vendor to get breakfast (eggs, grits, etc.) and then go sit out on this porch with the other fancy people and eat. Tons of people seemed to just be there for the breakfast, so it must be good. Plus, I do appreciate that a Farmer's Market can create community. I get that. I'll give them another half a point for that even though I doubt that I'll ever be eating there. After this assessment, Flea Market-3, Farmer's Market-1

Flea Market-For The Win!

I Want to Go!

Alt Summit.

I want to go, but can't justify the $345 price tag just for registration. Can't they make it so no-name bloggers can attend too!!?? There should be a cheap registration price that only gets you into sessions, minus all the parties. Just sayin'.

How to Have an Ipad

Back in April, I got an Ipad. My friends know this already. They are the only people who read my blog, so this isn't really earth-shattering news is it? Hi friends!

Now that I've had it for a few months, I have some thoughts about how to have an Ipad.

1. There's no need to get the most expensive Ipad with the most storage unless it's going to be your new computer. I got the 64GB one because I have a little bit of a technology obsession. Only sometimes though. When the obsession is about an Apple product. I also plan to use it for some of my dissertation study work. It has a decent video camera and there are video editing apps, so I thought that I could use it for data collection. Video takes up space, which is the only reason I let myself actually get the 64GB. I do think the size you choose depends on what your plan for using the Ipad is, but I now know that having the biggest Ipad isn't necessary. Because I still have a little buyer's remorse months later, I'm trying to make the Ipad my new computer even though when I have to do "real work," I still get my laptop out. I'm working on breaking that habit. If you want an Ipad to play on or play on plus a little work, just get the 32GB one. It's a happy medium, not the smallest, not the largest. It's plenty of room, and I think would be totally fine.

2. There's no need to get 3G service. I got the one that is 3G capable through Verizon. Again, ridiculous technology obsession. I haven't activated the 3G yet, and I don't really expect to. I'm in a Wifi zone most of the time. I don't think I realized that before. However, at work, the Wifi is so annoying. I have to log on as "guest" which means I can't do anything except check/send work email which is all I should do at work, but who are we kidding? I can't even get to Gmail. Ugh. I'm going to try to continue avoiding an extra bill though and just keep using my work laptop, which if you see number 1 above, is the habit I'm trying to break--doing "real" work on the laptop. I'm feeling conflicted. My point is that you don't really need the 3G unless you don't have access to any other computer or a decent Wifi connection in your day. Save the money and get the Wifi only. It'll be fine.

3. You'll need some apps if you want the Ipad to be as good as your real-life computer. Here is what I think is necessary:
Stuff for "Work"
*Pages: I didn't want this at first because it cost more than normal apps. But I had to suck it up. To make the Ipad your faux computer, you need something that's like Word. At least I do. So, get Pages.
*Keynote: Replaces the need for Powerpoint. You can even use your Ipad at work to do presentations. Okay, to be honest, I haven't done this yet. I actually just finished a series of Powerpoints for work. I should really use Keynote. See, I'm still trying to make the Ipad my real computer. I will make this happen this year though. Or else.
*Penultimate: I haven't used this app tons yet, but I expect to once I'm back at work for the new school year. It's basically a "notebook" that you can actually write in to take notes or whatever. I'm in meetings or doing classroom observations all the time, so I think it will come in handy. You don't type, but instead you use your finger or a stylus to write. This is nice because you can organize notebooks for different purposes and send your notes to yourself or a colleague in an email. Also, it's paper-free, which is a goal I'm working on.
*Calendar: This comes on the Ipad (and the Iphone). It's actually really good because you can set appointments/events, give them a start/end time, set up alerts to remind yourself, make them reoccurring if they are monthly/yearly, and even invite others to attend with you. You can sync your calendars across all your devices using Google calendar (which is what I do) or Outlook (which confuses me). One goal this year is to go paperless with my calendar. I depend on a calendar a lot because at work I have multiple appointments and tasks that happen at different times daily. Then there are all of the school deadlines, meetings, etc. And then, there's my actual life with appointments and such. To deal, I have been using an awesome calendar for the last few years. I get a new one every year, and I carry it around with me and depend on it in order to keep my organized state of mind. But, I have this tool now, and I should use it like a grown up (and squeeze one more thing out of it because of the ridiculous amount of $$ I spent to get it). My current paper calendar book runs out at the end of December. I have until then to get comfy with using the Ipad/Iphone/Computer calendar instead of paper.

Stuff for Fun
*Evernote: Put this on all of your devices (work computer, home computer, Ipad, Iphone, and whatever else). As you surf around on the Internet all day, you can save whatever you want here and it syncs across all the devices. That way, you don't have to have a good memory later when you need something. It'll be in Evernote, just waiting on you. It's kind of like Pinterest but not public, which to me is better because really do people need to see just how many cupcake recipes I collect or how many how-to videos for hair braiding I like to save? Um, no.
*Google: There's a Google package that has all the Google tools. This is important for one main reason: Reader. I read approximately 1 million blogs a day. I'm kidding but only a little. I really do read way too many and annoy my friends with all of the useless mind junk I read there. Sorry friends, but it just is what it is. Using Reader helps to keep the blog reading organized. Also available there are the other Google friends like Maps, Docs, Mail.
*Blogger+: You can't use the blogger site on Ipad for whatever reason. (Okay, I should clarify that for whatever reason I have trouble with blogger.com on the Ipad. Perhaps it's just me, but this is my solution.) From my various attempts to use blogger online, I could only type blog posts, but I couldn't format them, hyperlink, upload pictures, etc. It's obnoxious. With Blogger+, you can write your blog posts problem free and like a normal person.
*PS Express: Photoshop Express. You can fix pictures. This is good on Iphone too.
*Kindle, Nook, or iBooks: I think these are necessary because I really like to read on my real Kindle, and this just makes it an all-in-one deal. I use the Kindle app more than Nook or iBooks because I had a Kindle before. However, in my opinion they are all pretty similar. The best part is if you have the Kindle app on your Ipad, phone, and the real Kindle, they sync so you are always on the same page you left off on even if you did your last reading on a different device. I'm sure Nook and iBooks work this way too.
*Netflix: Stream movies (and episodes of Friday Night Lights) when you can't sleep at night.

4. Wireless keyboard: In order to make the Ipad your new computer, you have to be realistic and realize that you are never going to get good enough at typing on the touchscreen unless you are Steve Jobs himself. But I bet even he doesn't. It's just silly. This wireless keyboard is the answer. Problem solved.

5. Get a case. At first I wanted a Dodo case. Then, I worried the Ipad would fall out and crash into 378 pieces. I decided instead to purchase the SmartCover that goes with the Ipad 2. It has come in handy because it can be a stand for viewing or it can just sort of prop it up which is good when you're actually working. I also got this case from Timbuk2, which I love because it's not bulky at all, but provides decent protection when my Ipad is in my bag, floating around with a bunch of ridiculous things that could probably scratch it up.


All righty, those are my thoughts on how to make an Ipad good enough to love. I do think it's worth the money, but I don't think anyone needs to be ridiculous and spend a ton on one. It's user-friendly. It's light and will fit in your purse or book bag. It makes travel when you still want to be plugged-in so easy. And it makes you cooler. Well, maybe not, but whatever.

To Lulu or Not to Lulu

Over the last few months, I've seen lots of references to Lululemon workout clothes on various blogs. Just today, I was thinking that I should maybe invest in some Lululemon. I use the word "invest" on purpose because Lululemon costs a small fortune. I would maybe be able to get one thing before I started feeling guilty. One is not enough usually. Then on two blogs (rachelwilkerson.com & sarahfit.com) today there was reference to Lululemon knockoffs.

Costco has these tanks for only $12.99. I think I might be getting a membership there soon just for that.

DA Active has a whole line made from Lulu-similar fabric for about half less, plus a 10% discount.

I don't really want to become a Lulu addict (there are entire blogs dedicated to Lululemon. That's weird, right?), which would probably happen if I actually let myself have the real thing.

Might try these knockoffs instead.

Good Morning!

This morning did not start as expected. On the agenda today was "clean the house," like as in scrub it. I planned on starting that task after a few cups of coffee and the Today Show. Instead, I woke up at 7:00 to Will standing over me, poking my arm. I thought there was an emergency and jolted up. The first thing I heard him say was, "There's an animal." I think he kept talking, but my mind stopped with animal. I immediately pictured an animal loose in our house. Remember when this happened? My response was no words just a look of panic. Then, he continued, "trapped in the chimney. I need you to help me get it out." More looks of panic as I sat in bed picturing the impending attack of an animal. I find it hilarious that I can go from completely asleep to panic-stricken frenzy in about 15 seconds. Granted, the frenzy was just inside my mind as I still had not actually gotten out of bed or spoken at all. Will said, "Now, just stay here and think about that for a few minutes. Then, come downstairs and help me." And he was gone. He knows me too well. Of course, I would need to lie back down and think about the animal in the chimney before I could be of any help. So I did. I eventually did make it downstairs, put his running shoes on (because mine were upstairs) and tucked my pj pants into them just in case the animal tried to escape up them or get tangled in them or in case they somehow slowed me down from running out the door when the animal chased me. Never mind the fact that I was wearing Will's shoes which are too big. Yea, never mind that.

He told me to keep the animal out of the kitchen which meant I got to stand on the steps that lead up to the kitchen from the den. This was good. I grabbed a blanket off the couch. Will said that was a good idea. I could use it to shoo the animal out the back door. Little did he know that my plan was not to use the blanket as any type of tool other than the kind that I cover my head with when a soot-covered animal was released from the chimney and having a heyday in my den. "What if it's a vulture?" I asked, and then was informed that we'd have a mess because there would be soot marks all over if it was actually a vulture. PLEASE be a squirrel. Have you ever wished that you had a squirrel in your house? Me neither. Until today.

Will released the flue, I cringed, and then nothing. Um, really? He got a flashlight and seriously stuck his head up in the fireplace. He did say that he hoped whatever was in there wasn't rabid, as it would probably be falling on his face. Nice, right? I was still standing there with my blanket. He couldn't see anything though. He closed the flue back, and now we have an animal in our chimney. I'm thinking we'll just listen to it until it escapes out the top which is unlikely or falls down to the point that we can recreate this scene with an actual outcome.

Updates to come.

This absurdity was followed by me going to the kitchen to get coffee, opening the cabinet to get a cup, and having a cockroach (lovingly named a palmetto bug) fly in my face. Ohmygod really? So I screamed the scream I'd been mustering up since I was standing with my blanket waiting on some animal to run at me from the chimney. Where was my blanket now!!?? (**disclaimer: I get my house blasted with chemicals (gross) routinely to deal with the fact that I live in a place where palmetto bugs are part of our population. Even though I'm actually diligent about this, there are still moments when one finds a way in. Don't judge me.)

I like this

commercial.

A lot.

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose

Tomorrow night, there will be a tear in my beer which I'll be drinking in order to cope with the fact that my favorite TV drama is going off the air. Friday Night Lights. Yep, really. Seriously. For real.

I tell people I love this show, and they usually laugh at me and scrunch up their faces, like "Really? It's about football and high school and Texas. Really?" And the answer is yes, really really. I love it. As a person who is a teacher in real life, I get excited about shows focused on school (remember Boston Public anyone?) even when the story lines are mostly unrealistic and the actors all look older than actual high schoolers.

I also love the character of Coach Taylor because he's almost the perfect guy, but he's not at the same time which makes him human and believable. Then, there's Tim Riggins (or in real life, Taylor Kitsch) in his cowboy boots. Um, yea. And, I kind of think about Julie and Matt's relationship in my free time. Will they make it work?? And, in this latest season, I really miss Landry. Aaaand, the music is usually really good. Well, it's good when you're watching a show about high school football. In real life, not so sure. I'll test it out next week.

ESPN is picking up reruns of FNL. It'll be on ESPN Classic. I don't have cable, so I guess I'm out of luck. But the Internet is full of interesting things dedicated to the show, like this article and this tumblr which I will continue to follow in hopes that there will be a reunion show or something.

In order to deal with the sadness, I'm hosting a party. I'll be invited and Amanda will be there out of roommate obligation. We will be eating chocolate cake and drinking beer. Cake for my sadness, beer because that's what they'd do in Texas (I think).

Green Eggs & Ham

I have some new questions about what Dr. Seuss meant when he wrote Green Eggs & Ham.

A few weeks ago, one of Will's friends was going to get some new chickens. He's been buying them from someone nearby. He'd bought 11 and then 7 of them ended up being roosters, so he went back to trade them for hens. Since he was heading out there, he called to ask Will if he wanted anymore chickens, like maybe a couple of Ameraucanas. These are the chickens that lay green eggs. Will ended up getting two, so now everyday we get two little green eggs. This new addition made me wonder, when Dr. Seuss wrote about green eggs and ham, did he mean green eggs as in green shells or green yolks? That's all I want to know.

The two Ameraucanas had been living with roosters, so we knew we couldn't eat their eggs for the first couple of weeks in case they were fertilized. I have a fear of cracking an egg to find a half-formed mutant chicken. If that happened, I would never crack another egg again. I would just give up cupcake baking all together or make Will crack all the eggs. He probably wouldn't go for that. So, instead of tossing the eggs, Will left them in the chicken coop because one of our chickens, who we call Butter, was broody and wanted to sit. So for a couple of weeks, she's been sitting on those green eggs. This morning when Will went out, he found this little chick that hatched over night.

In case you were wondering, green eggs do not make green chickens.

Roomies

Our new roommate Amanda (I'm officially going to quit calling her roommate Amanda and go to just Amanda, starting now!) got a new roommate too! She rescued this cute little pup from the pound.

His name is Joey, as in Joey Pigza (who swallowed the key, lost control, and other funny things).

Pretty sure that as soon as we all saw this face, we were done for.

It's like he's saying, PLEASE! I'll be good and not bark and not eat too much and not chew up anything and not spill my water and not put my feet in my bowl and not argue with Lily and Clover who are so big and I will sleep and be good. Please.

I mean, look at those little eyes.

**So the blurriness of these photos is totally my fault. Joey is not a rambunctious dog at all. He sits still; it's me who has the shakes apparently.

Vacation

Last week was Beach Week 2011! Here are some highlights:

Here's the whole gang.



Amanda and I perfected the margarita.



Lily and Clover had the most fun!




And Will and I cracked up about something.


Other highlights include some of the following:

-The new bridge. You can read about that on Amanda's blog. We all ended up crossing it on morning runs.

-Jimmy. I still believe this is the BEST investment we've made in years. :) We made pina coladas, margaritas, smoothies. Yum! You can't beat an actual margarita. My best concoction for beach drinking was a peach watermelon margarita (1 peach, a few pieces of watermelon, splash of triple sec, shot of tequila, and a splash of oj. add all of that to Jimmy and go!)

-Dinner. We all know that going out to dinner is a disappointment since the majority of beach restaurants are not at all impressive. Even our favorite hole in the wall bar seemed to be under new management this year. Therefore, dinner happened in our house. Other than the 80 batches of guacamole, we had some amazing ravioli a la Rob.

-Sunburns & other skin problems. As the resident red head of the bunch, I am the only one who didn't end up with a sunburn. I learned back during my life guarding days that reapplying sunscreen makes it pretty effective. However, I reapplied enough this year that I ended up with an allergic reaction to the sunscreen, which landed me at Doctor's Care on Friday night begging for prednisone.

-Porch sitting. There's not a lot to say about this one, but it's what we did. Every night!

-Fireworks chasing. So apparently it's illegal to shoot fireworks in NC? On July 4th though, people break the rules. A lot. On Sunset Beach, there are approximately 3 police cars. As people shot fireworks on one end of the island and then the other, the 3 police cars zipped back and forth trying to catch the culprits. While that was happening, we headed out on foot to find the fireworks. In the process, we witnessed a COPS-like scene of the 3 police cars screeching into a driveway and running to the back of the house only to find that the fireworks were being shot across the canal. So close! They clearly should have jumped in the water and started swimming!

This year was one of the best. We stayed in a different house because our old faithful, Island Time, changed their dog policy. This one was called Pointe Comfort. I'm not very good at reading maps, and when I looked on the map at where this house was located, I thought for sure our trek to the beach each day would be longer. It's good to not be able to read maps sometimes because sometimes you are surprised! This house was so much closer to the beach access and required no stair climbing to get over the dunes. Couldn't have been better!

Summer Food

Best summer dinner of the summer...honey balsamic chicken salad.

Will robbed the bees of more honey today, so I was motivated to use it.

Honey Balsamic Chicken (No measuring allowed!)

Put some balsamic vinegar, a squirt of dijon mustard, and a blob or two of honey in a bowl. Add oregano. Whisk! Marinate chicken for a few, then grill. Slice it up and put it on top of a salad, featuring veggies from your garden if you have them. Done and done!

Clover

One of the main reasons I love my dog to pieces is because she does silly things like this when I make her stay up past her bedtime.

I procrastinated on a project that I'd given myself a deadline of tonight for. So, I set up shop in bed with laptop and books and Clover to keep me company. After two hours of work, Clover rolled over and gave this pose that says it all, "Can we go to sleep already!!?? Turn off the light!"

Ha! Love her!

Some Things About Running

There are some things about running that have not changed for me since 7th grade. I think it was in 7th grade that I started running, like for fun/exercise, not away from a bear or scary person. My sister was a running fanatic by that point, and I tried to do everything she did because she was older than me and therefore, cooler.

Since the end of the school year, I've been trying to get back into the swing of things with being a runner. This past year was a bit insane in terms of my schedule, so running had to take a little bit of a back seat. I just wasn't consistent enough. So every morning for the last 2 weeks I've rolled out of bed and gone for a run. I've noticed some things about myself that have changed since 7th grade, but some that haven't.

1. When I run up a hill, I curse the cars that go speeding by me. I've done this forever. If you pass me in your speedy car while I'm hauling myself up a hill at a snail's pace, I'll mumble some ugly words your way and probably give you a glare.

2. When I get tired, I put my head back, like I'm too tired to hold it up. This is stupid as it doesn't provide me with any renewed energy. I remember in high school overhearing some other team's coach tell one of their girls to watch for when I put my head back because it meant I was tired and she could pass me. So apparently it was a dead giveaway.

3. My knee hurts. It hurt then and still hurts now, though now it's worse and blows up to the size of a cantaloupe on a regular basis. Nice, right? Ice and advil are my runnig BFFs.

4. I still hate running in muggy weather. Who doesn't? Right now, if I get out the door between 7-8:30, I'm good because though it's muggy, there is a breeze. In the next couple of weeks though, Columbia will be so hot and muggy and the air won't be moving at all. I'm dreading that.

5. I still can't keep up with boys and get annoyed that they can be all silly while running and not die. When I ran cross country a million years ago, there was this boy who I ran with sometimes. He would run through people's front yards, hurdle over for sale signs, shrubs, dance around stop signs. It was funny, but I remember thinking that if I tried to do all that, I would die. Now, when I go run with Will, he does the same thing. We run on some trails at a park nearby. I'm already a klutz on bumpy trail ground, but to top it off I have to watch him act all crazy, running in front of me, jumping over the dog, swinging on branches, all while I'm trying to not fall over, twist my ankle, or lie down and cry in general.

6. I still really like to listen to music while I run. Back in the day, it was all about the radio. Now, it's all about Pandora. I really think it's dangerous though because I get so into the music, I forget to look both ways and have almost gotten creamed by a car on a couple of occasions. Therefore, I've been running sans music, which is sad.

7. Since forever, I give myself pep talks while I run. Not about running, but about life stuff. Whatever it is. I also give other people imaginary lectures. Especially if they are being really stupid and need a lecture, but for whatever reason, no one can really give them one. In retrospect, this seems lame, but it's what I do and have forever.

8. My biggest motivation to run is still because my sister does it. I still want to do everything she does. Here we are, and for some reason I have a giant, fake grin on my face. That must be my "I want to fall over but there's a camera" face.



9. And here's what's different about running as a 30 year old vs. running as a 13-18 year old: I'm slower, I require food/water before a run and sometimes in the middle depending on length, I do it in an effort to be healthy (and not die of heart disease)rather than to get faster or participate in a race.

It's good to know the majority of things stay the same.

Today is the Day

Today is the day that I'm supposed to start writing comps. I now have 2 of my 3 questions and have more than enough to keep me busy.


So far today, I've done the following:

1. Watched the Today Show
2. Drank 3 cups of coffee
3. Watched Live with Regis & Kelly (Betty White is in place of Kelly today)
4. Hung a picture.
5. Took pictures of dogs and texted them to Will
6. Iced my knee because it is swollen. Boo!
7. Shredded some old bills, receipts, etc.
8. Emailed a couple people
9. Googled some stuff
10. Texted my mom and sister


That's ten whole things, none of which have anything to do with comps. Hmmm...it's not looking good folks!

Pesto

We have a ton of basil right outside the backdoor. Last year, we had just as much, but I was bad about using it, so it ended up overgrown. I felt guilty. This summer, I'm on a mission to use it. I put it on pizzas, in pasta sauce, in marinades, and as of yesterday, in homemade pesto. Why have I never made pesto before? Because I can buy it in a jar, and I used to love things in a jar. But not so much anymore. Homemade is better. WHAT is happening to me!? Pesto is easy though, and worth the 5 minutes of effort!

I used Pioneer Woman's recent recipe. I didn't actually make the whole recipe because it has heavy cream in it (ahhhhh!) but just the pesto part. Here's the how-to:

Pesto
¾ cups Fresh Basil Leaves
½ cups Grated Parmesan Cheese
3 Tablespoons Pine Nuts
2 cloves Garlic, Peeled
Salt And Pepper, to taste
⅓ cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil

*I also squeezed in a little lemon juice to keep the basil looking bright green.

Add basil leaves, 1/2 cup Parmesan, pine nuts, and salt and pepper to a food processor or blender. Turn machine on, then drizzle in olive oil while it mixes. Continue blending until combined, adding additional olive oil if needed.


This pesto is so good, you definitely don't need the heavy cream to turn this into dinner. Instead, cook some noodles (they need to be some kind that have nooks and crannies for the pesto to squeeze into. Yum!), drain them, melt 2 Tbs. butter in the noodles, then add 3/4 of the pesto to the noodles and toss. You could probably leave the butter out too, but I didn't. Grill some chicken in olive oil, salt and pepper, lemon juice, and the other 1/4 of the pesto. Stop there, or also make a batch of 5-minute tomato sauce to add one more layer of flavor.

Decisions, Decisions

In the last few days, weeks, months, there have been quite a few tricky decisions needing to be made. Thankfully not just by me, but by some of my closest family and friends. "Tricky" is a nice way of saying Oh-My-God-What-Should-I-Do!!!??? Most of the decisions have been made, at least for now. Now we're all at the point when we just sit back and wait to see how it all unfolds. We'll call this period the unfolding part. This part can be just as tricky as the part when you have to actually make the decision, but it's also kind of exciting.

For the last several years, my parents have talked about moving. On Monday, they finally are. This was a tough decision because they live in a great house where we have all shared a million memories. They aren't moving because of a job change or anything like that, but they just feel like it's time to do something different. I think that just wanting to do something different can be one of the harder decisions to make, mainly because other people just don't get it. Their new house is super nice and in a great neighborhood. They can get to Target in 3 minutes flat, which is really different than the 30-minute drive it has always taken. I know it's silly that Target is what I mention in a post about my parents moving to a new house, but my sister and I have created a sort of tradition of going to Target and for coffee on weekend nights whenever we are both home, so it matters. I'm trying to figure out whether or not I'm sad that they are moving out of a house that I grew up in. Tons of stuff happened in that house, and if I stop and mull over it, I would probably get all nostalgic and sad. I'm choosing not to do that though, and instead I'm really excited about all of the stuff that will happen in this new house.

One of my best pals had to make a decision about moving across the country recently. I'm not sad at all about this one because she's going to be our new roomie, but I'm sure that deciding to move away from home has been more than tricky for her. But it also has the potential to be a huge, life-changing adventure which probably outweighs the trickiness, though it's still scary. I just read this post recently about moving across the country. Even if it was a scary decision to make, it will most likely turn into something exciting.

And then there are the decisions I've been making that include all kinds of things like whether or not to apply for different jobs (and not getting them even when I do), what kind of timeline to map out for my dissertation study and writing, what to cook for dinner (ha!), and a couple of other things that are actually unbelievably tricky. For me, making decisions is a process that involves a long period of freaking out about what to do. The most ridiculous part of this process is that from the very beginning, I know the decision that I'll make in the end. However, I still have to go through the motions of freaking out, making lists, asking people their opinions, freaking out some more, calling my mom, calling my sister, driving Will crazy, talking to strangers, crying in front of people I didn't expect to cry in front of, and then, miraculously, I accept the fact that I made a decision already, months earlier. Really, the only thing this doesn't apply to is what to cook for dinner. That's not such a process, though maybe if it were I'd weigh less, which would be neat.

Here's my lesson about making decisions that are tricky and life-changing: Most likely, you already know what you want to do, which is also most likely the right thing to do or you wouldn't be wanting to do it in the first place. Hmmm, not sure that makes sense. Let me try again: Trust yourself.

And here's the thing about taking risks: If the risk is to do something different, even if it does change your life forever and isn't the most predictable or expected thing you could do, do it anyway. Because really, what's the worst that can happen? You have fun, you learn something, and you have a whole new story to tell.

Watch This!

In my real life, I am a literacy coach. Along with my other literacy coach pals, I used this video in some teacher training a few years ago when we were trying to convince teachers to stop doing round robin or popcorn reading. You know, where every kid has to read a paragraph? It's painful for all involved. This is the best proof of that and SO funny.

I had to post it because with all of the honey-related talk in my house, I keep making this joke and no one (Will or the dogs) gets it. I keep saying "the be-ar lick-ed-a the ho-nee" over and over though and cracking myself up.

Give it a watch.

Honey

In the last couple of weeks, the bees have started to earn their keep: honey from my backyard. It's seriously tasty and light compared to store-bought honey, and I really think it tastes like apple juice, but that might just be me.

Last weekend, Will realized that a few frames in one hive were full of honey but something was going on (insert beekeeping jargon here) that caused the bees to swarm and leave the hive (but they came back later), and if he didn't get the honey out, the hive would probably get robbed by other bees. Yep, they really do that. Thieves. So he lugged this heavy thing of frames into the kitchen and started harvesting (Is that the right terminology? No clue.)the honey. I sat at the table and chewed on my nails because in my imagination this was going to result in the kitchen being covered in honey. I mean, can you even imagine cleaning honey off of faux brick? (We've really got to renovate the kitchen soon. I'm obsessing about those fake bricks.)Surprisingly though, the process was not that messy and we ended up with several jars of honey.

Before the next batch, Will got a honey extractor which makes the job much easier. First, you have to uncap the hives (I think that's what it's called.) It looks like this:


Then you put the frames in the extractor and spin it. The honey is extracted and drips out the bottom into a bucket. Then, you let it sit for a day in the heat, all the leftover wax floats up, and you fill jars by pouring off the bottom. Here are a couple of snaps.





Will has been selling the jars, but I get dibs on as much as I want, so this afternoon, I made honey cupcakes. (OF COURSE!) I did some googling and apparently back in 2009 the executive pastry chef at the White House made some honey cupcakes too. I used his recipe:

Bill Yosses's White House Honey Cupcakes

Ingredients
1/4 cup softened butter
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

For the Icing
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup honey
3 Tbsp. lemon juice

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake papers.

2. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, on high speed. Mix in honey, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla until blended, on medium speed.

3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, then mix into the batter until just blended. Scoop the batter into the cupcake cups evenly.

4. Bake for about 20 minutes; cupcakes are done when tops spring back lightly to the touch.

To prepare icing
In a small sauce pan, whisk ingredients over medium heat until sugars dissolve together; keep whisking to avoid clumps. Using a spoon, drizzle over the tops of cupcakes, or carefully pour over cupcakes.

Makes one dozen cupcakes.


I did not use this icing recipe though because I didn't want a glaze. I clearly wanted major frosting. I decided that peanut butter icing made the most sense, so I used this recipe which I kind of made up after looking at a bunch of recipes online:

1/4 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1-2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 T milk

You kind of have to play with the amount of the sugar and milk until you get the consistency you want. Then I chopped up some peanuts to sprinkle on top.

The picture I took of them was lame so you'll have to picture it in your mind. I will say though that the cupcakes poofed the perfect amount so they had a nice rounded top. I hate a flat cupcake, but these turned out just right. They were pretty tasty and would be good plain sans icing as a muffin, so that's an option too.

Jimmy Buffett Knows What's Up

Why hello, new friend...



This is our newest roommate, a Margaritaville Margarita Maker. (Please excuse the canister of oatmeal and faux brick of my kitchen. Love it! Not.) It's maybe the coolest thing we've ever purchased. Ever. I do know that Jimmy Buffett most likely did not invent this machine, though I wish he did. He has people who do that for him I'm sure, but he probably would appreciate that we now believe it's five o'clock all day long.

After a couple of years at the beach of watching me and our other new roommate, Amanda, use cheap plastic blenders to make daquiris and pina coladas (which last year turned into a burned out blender that smelled so bad we had to air out the house), Will decided this should be our summer purchase. It has been worth every penny. It's smarter than a regular bartender (well, maybe not, but it's smarter than any of the annual beach trip attendees when it comes to making a drink at least). It has two very important switches. The first is how many servings you want--1, 2, or 3. The second is the type of drink--ritas, daquiris, slides, or smoothies. (Yep, I can even make smoothies. This machine doesn't require alcohol, though it seems like it should.) Then you put whatever you want in the blender and flip the switch. The machine knows how much ice to shave and blends it up to perfection.

I should go on QVC or something and promote this thing. If you want me to bring it to your house for a party, just call me. I'll be there!