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.