Happy Birthday Elise! I can't believe it has been three years since I wrote your baptism post. You are the sweetest girl a mom could ask for!
I found this today, I hope you don't mind me sharing your innermost feelings during your grieving period after slimy (your snail) was brutally murdered by your 20 month old baby brother, Miles. You were loudly sobbing, and after about an hour I encouraged you to write out your feelings.
"Slimy was my best friend, he meaned everything to me" I love it! It made me laugh! You've always had a way with words. Like when you were about three and daddy told you to quit asking to go outside for snow to eat. And finally after he'd had enough of your pestering, he said, "Elise, I don't want to hear you ask for snow one more time!' Then a few minutes later, you came over and asked if you could go outside and get some of that "cold, fluffy, white stuff that falls from the sky."
I have always been amazed at your descriptions and ability to put your thoughts into words. Keep up your writing. I love your most recent story--I think Emily Harkin's story is so creative.
We've been wanting a pressure cooker for years, but it seemed so foreign and hard. I really didn't know where to begin to figure out what type to buy, or how to use it. And besides, I'd heard they were kinda pricey and my stovetop bean cooking method was working just fine--except when I burned them. Then it was really stinky.
Last year, my sister-in-law Tiffany bought a Cuisinart electric pressure cooker from Amazon and just raved about it. I had to buy one when I saw that Costco started carrying it for $50 less than what other stores sell that model for. It did take me a little bit to familiarize myself with it. It is really so easy, but sometimes changing my routine is hard. I use it several times a day sometimes now. It is such a great way to make healthy, cheap, fast food.
The best thing about the pressure cooker is that it can take whole grains and legumes and cook them in just a fraction of the time that it would take on the stove, and I don't have to watch the pot at all. The speed has helped me to have the ability to cook something quickly when I am dropping my kids off at practices, and when our evenings are busy and I haven't planned ahead.
I love being able to wake up at 7:00am, put a cup of millet, a cup of steel cut oats, 4 cups of water in the pressure cooker. Set it for 8 or 9 minutes then go out for a run. When my kids come down for breakfast, their cereal is hot and ready. This makes for a leisurely morning. Millet was my favorite cereal from childhood. Unfortunately it takes forever to cook. So I was so happy that I can enjoy it now without all the effort. My kids love hot cereal. I love how cheap and filling it is. I think we figured out that it is less than 10 cents per serving. Food doesn't get much cheaper than that.
It is similar to a crock pot in that you don't have to watch the stove. But it is much, much faster. This faster cooking preserves more nutrients. Plus, it has a saute feature so you can brown meat, carmelize onions, etc, all with just using the inner pot of the pressure cooker. Fewer dishes is always good.
I cook black beans in 28 minutes(no soaking required), split pea soup took 8 minutes, and really great fluffy yummy potatoes cook in 12, artichokes in 8. The potatoes are Jared's favorite. We quarter the gold potatoes from Costco, stick them in the pressure cooker with a couple cups of water. Cook for 12 minutes. Then he mashes them and adds greek yogurt and seasoning. They are the fastest and best mashed potatoes. They don't get as gluey from the starch in the water.
Last year we watched the movie Food Inc. I thought it was a great show and very interesting. One part that I don't know if I agree with is that it is cheaper to feed kids burgers than to prepare something at home. Sure, produce is pricey. But we have the same options here as the rest of the world that feeds their families for pennies a day. Rice, beans, lentils, bread, tortillas, potatoes, etc. All of those things are still really, really cheap, and eaten in the right quantities and with some fresh food are affordable to most everyone. I think the reason a lot of people forget about those healthy, cheap options are because they take so long to cook and they don't know how to prepare them. The pressure cooker makes those foods truly convenient.
I just saw that Costco is carrying the pressure cookers again for fall. I think it is a good investment at $69. It comes with a recipe booklet. Some of the recipes look really good. Lentil soup, Pasta e Fagioli, Mushroom Barley Soup, etc. They look great! I was happy to learn a few new recipes for my pressure cooker in my class with Chef Brad at Education Week. He shares some of them here.
A few months ago, I came home from shopping and Jared informed me that we were running a relay together. I was pretty stunned hearing this from my anti-running husband. We’ve been running together maybe three times in our 14 years together. Jared likes running about as much as he likes mowing the lawn—maybe less. So it was a shock--a welcome one! Apparently some friends from our date night co-op put together a team for the Red Rock Relay, and assured Jared that he could have all the easy legs, So after saying “no” twice, they talked him into it.
Training got off to a rough start. When we started running together, Jared had a ton of knee pain-- sharp, really bad pain. Finally I convinced him to try new running shoes, and his pain was gone. Amazing how shoes break down and quit supporting you even when they haven’t been worn much. Then a few days later, he lost a big toenail playing basketball. But I loved it when he told me that even though he'd still rather play ball, he'll tolerate the running because likes being with me. Awww.
Red Rock has such a beautiful course. It was great to be with our friends and neighbors. Melissa and Catherine who were also in our van were my running partners last year when I first moved into this area. I have to say that Heavenly Father was looking out for me. I’d just been called into nursery in our HUGE ward. Nursery was tough in a closet sized room with no toys, etc. It was rare to even hear anyone greet me since I didn’t know more than a couple of people. I forget how lonely moving and starting over can be.
Melissa had been subbing that nursery class for months and she came in to check on us. I was thrilled when we started talking running. It was really nice to have a friend and to know someone! She invited me to run with her and Catherine. Turns out, we had so much in common. I had to laugh when one morning she said to me, “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I haven’t had sugar in five years.” Um—no Melissa, you’re not crazy, you’re my hero! Lots of mornings talking about Russia, kefir, birth stories, and health stuff—it was fun. Most of the time I was huffing so hard from trying to keep up with their fast pace—it was easier to listen. But it was lots of fun. And because of Melissa, I learned about the babysitting co-ops and other things that have made my life a lot simpler and helped my kids to meet new friends here.
Our team name was the Second Honeymooners. We started out as six couples, but lost one to a business trip, so we talked Catherine into running it in our van. And the remaining three legs were picked up by different people on our team who wanted more mileage which was so great since we got more sleep because of it. We were so happy Catherine came! She is an amazing runner. I loved hearing the people at the exchanges talking about Catherine and Melissa passing everyone.
The race starts at Brianhead. It was cold and super high elevation at the start. Even by mine and Jared’s legs in Van 2, we were still at almost 10,000 feet elevation. I couldn’t believe how much I felt it! One leg of 4.5 miles and my lungs were filled with junk. Jared was definitely feeling it too. But it was beautiful and really fun to follow a different course.
We spent our break time in Cedar City. Picked up some Café Rio and lounged at the park for a few hours before heading into the sunset for our second runs. I had an 8.4 miler. It was pretty good terrain. But it was pitch black outside, and I was the first runner.
In relays, you are given a start time. Faster teams are generally given a later start time, slower teams earlier. That way the volunteers at the exchanges have less time to be waiting around for people to come through. Our team was given an early start time despite being pretty fast. So we were leading the race for a lot of the time. They even held up a couple of our runners for an hour and a half because they didn’t have volunteers at the next exchanges yet. I’ve never experienced this before! I didn’t have a single soul around for my entire 8.4 mile run. Through the desert, in the middle of the night, running on a very narrow shoulder, and dodging into the sagebrush whenever a car passed. Then, my headlamp started turning off. I was seriously praying that it wouldn’t go out on me in the middle of my run. My team had to head to the next town to get gas, so I was pretty solitary out there. And I can tell you, I didn’t feel comfortable at all. I was worried about some animal or something hiding in the brush or being hit by a car and I didn’t even want to listen to my headphones. Anyway, I was creeped out. But by the end of the 8.4 miles, I had a lot more vans passing me, and was much more comfortable.
Jared did great on his run! Much better than his first since he could breathe again! It was nice and cool at night. And there were amazing stars out, and just a little sliver of a moon.
We were able to catch a few hours of rest and a shower at Jared’s aunt’s home before our morning run began. Our last legs were pretty difficult and it was warming up. Jared and I were both lucky to finish before it really got hot. Jared’s last 5.5 miler had some pretty good rollers in it. But he didn’t stop once and passed a couple people on the hills. He beat his predicted time, and I am pretty proud of him! Here he is on his last leg, and a pretty brutal hill.He is the tiny figure towards the top.
My last leg had a pretty good mile uphill before it split off into a trail for the next mile climb. It was tough! I get side aches when I stop and start running like in relays. I was slow, and that was a bummer. But I got to see some amazing views of Zion. I came out of those two miles up and had three miles of a gentle downhill. It was great.
I ran past a sign that was advertising Buffalo Jerky, and thought to myself that Jared would probably really like to try some of that. Sure enough, I saw our van parked next to it! He was inside buying some.
I would do this relay again in a heartbeat! I liked it better than the Wasatch Back because it was smaller so getting to the exchanges wasn’t such a headache. Our shirts were awesome. We got a cool technical shirt to start, plus a finisher t-shirt. My only concerns were the shoulder was tiny on most of the roads and I felt like it was a little dangerous. The finish in Zion was beautiful. The little towns near Zion are so pretty. I loved all the little farms. Who would have thought you could pick your own apples in Zion?
Our team was more competitive than I’d thought! We finished in 186 miles in roughly 27 hours—which is about an 8:42 pace. I loved all the techie stuff our guys were doing. Kevin had some awesome spreadsheets that got updated en route. He was also quite the photographer. I am usually the one taking all the pictures with my crappy point and shoot, but I love having some cool pictures from a race. He even came home and put together a slideshow by Sunday afternoon. Impressive! Here he is sacrificing his body to get a good shot of Catherine coming down near Cedar Breaks.
We came home and picked up the kids from Grandma G’s house. They loved it! Miles kept saying, “I want to go there for a week next time!” and telling us about all the fun and treats they had. Simone was very impressed that Grandma has a TV in her car. And they loved watching movies, playing with Roxy, and harvesting her tomatoes and apples.
We came home and I got Jared to watch Spirit of the Marathon with me. I’d never seen it, and figured I’d get him to watch it while he was still thinking about running. It was pretty inspiring! I think even Jared is thinking that someday he might want to run one with me.
Here is our slideshow/video that Kevin put together--Thanks Kevin!
We covered four states this past weekend: Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. My kids were REALLY excited about that and they were very impressed with what they saw. Can you believe I've lived in Utah most of my life and never been to Yellowstone? Heck, we DROVE to Cancun and around the perimeter of the Eastern and Southern U.S. when I was a kid, but we skipped Yellowstone.
So we've been wanting to go for awhile. My brother Michael invited us to go up to his girlfriend Katie's family's cabin in Island Park this weekend. It was so beautiful! We had such a great time. The kids loved building forts with Charlie, Brooklyn and Gavin. And cute little Jacob kept us all smiling.
I was a little bummed to drive there at night where I couldn't see much. But on the way through some mountains I got a really cool view. Between the part of the pine trees, hanging right over the road it seemed, was the big dipper. Bigger than I've ever seen it. I think the stars look different in Idaho.
We spent two days hanging out at the cabin and around Island Park. We went to Mesa Falls. It was really spectacular.
Monet used to LOVE tending "Baby Sharlie" as she used to call him. She was 10 months older than him and that made her really big. She used to take care of him and play with him. Now they are great buds.
On the way home we visited Big Springs, and saw this cute little house that a 4'10" German craftsman built. Everything is smaller scaled. How amazing would it be to immigrate to the U.S. and get yourself this little piece of property? Beautiful.
This river in these past few pictures is all water from natural springs. We absolutely love Katie. Such a great mom and so fun to hang out with. She's got some serious determination. A few years ago when I first met her, she was running four marathons in a summer. Single mom, pushing two big toddlers in a regular stroller through to get her runs in. Crazy! I can't even imagine. I guess that is how she got so fast.
We went fishing and hiking in the river that was right on the property. We even saw some Osprey. I took a drive one morning and saw some Pronghorn Antelope. Elise spooked a beaver while they were fishing and got a big smack on the water for that one. And Jared saw a Raccoon right on the front porch.
My puzzle loving Monet working with Charlie and Michael. On Labor Day we headed back home through Yellowstone. We didn't have a ton of time. But we saw Old Faithful and lots of hot springs. But more importantly, we saw lots of Elk, a moose, buffalo, a coyote, etc. It was really very neat to see so much wildlife. My kids just absolutely adore animals, and they were elated to see so many just right next to the road. It was fun to have so many incredible views and to see a little more of our amazing Earth. We drove out through the Tetons and Jackson. Does it get any more beautiful than this? Goofing off with the camera when we stopped for Burgers in Jackson.
Well I've been told that Yosemite is a close match. Jared used to go there a lot as a kid and loves it, so maybe we'll have to do that next year. We'll see! We are definitely going to head back to Yellowstone again and spend more time.
My two little sweeties heading off to Pre-school and Kindergarten. No tears from me, no tears from them. They were just excited to get going. Walking Simone to preschool without Miles, she said, "I miss Miles." Aw. They are little pals. I can't wait to hear how their first day went!
Remember your Jr. High Home Ec class? I took cooking in 7th grade. We watched movies showing pristine sugar factories, the Hershey chocolate factory, etc. We learned to make coffee cake, biscuits, etc. Our teacher told us that the only difference between white flour and whole wheat was a little fiber and white flour had the advantage because it was enriched.
Of course there was no such thing as the glycemic index at that point. I wonder what they teach kids how to make these days in Home Economics. I read on the news today that United Health is offering grants to schools who implement educational programs to help fight childhood obesity--which is at about 23.7 percent in Utah according to the article.
What better way to do it than to have a Home Ec type environment where kids learn how to make healthy food?
Last week I attended an Education Week class by Brad Petersen on cooking with whole grains. At first I wasn't too interested in it because it sounded like more of the same, but then I decided to go. When I saw the HUNDREDS of people standing in line outside of the Varsity Theater hoping for a chance to get in, I knew I'd come to the right place.
He was very charming and so funny. The information he shared was so helpful. He did cooking demonstrations with an electric pressure cooker, showed us how easy it is to bake bread in a Bosch, and had tons of great ideas for making our regular fare more healthy by adding whole grains, using superior ingredients, etc. He made a delicious yogurt butter spread that was amazing. I think our Jr. High kids today need a Chef Brad. Check out his website for some of his great ideas. We recently made banana bread with his wonder flour blend and we loved it.
Elise and Monet have been counting down the days to go back to school. They love school. Monet especially gets upset if I have to take her out for something.
They had their alarm clocks all programmed, and Elise braided Monet's hair the night before. Cute stuff. I love the picture of them standing next to each other. Elise is now five feet tall, size 9 shoes. I think she's going to grow a lot this year. She's pretty tall for fifth grade.
Sending them back to school is a little like cutting off my right arm. They have been so helpful in keeping an eye on Miles and Simone this summer, cleaning up and getting things organized. But I think we're all ready for fall, structure, school, sports and all of that good stuff.
They are really excited about their classes and teachers. Elise's teacher blew up a pickle last year, and that makes him really awesome. Monet is excited to have friends in her class.
I took Miles and Simone to the Animal Park after the girls went to school. They got some little kid cones at the deli afterwards and Miles says, "Having Elise and Monet in school is good." LOL. Sorry bud, not going to be like that everyday.
He starts Kindergarten next week. Someone mentioned that I was going to cry when he went to school. Huh. I don't know how I'll feel about it! He's so excited and so ready, I think I'll just be excited for him.
But life is definitely changing for me around here. It has been a LONG time since these days: (You can thank me for not reposting the poop on walls and crib pictures)
Miles liked to cook oatmeal and hot chocolate by putting the packets in a bowl or cup and sticking it into the microwave unopened, and without water. Then I'd come running down the stairs to see a fire. So fun. Someone likes cantaloupe--even the rind. The funny thing is, he waited to get really hard until I was already pregnant with Simone. Little devil. Fortunately, he is so very sweet and loving that he made it through the two's alive. There is a reason I started my blog in 2005 and then didn't post anything else until August 2007. It was crazy around here. I was also busy doing this: Which might explain the lack of supervision in the pictures above. I did learn to study EARLY in the morning.
My life as a mom is evolving. I think in someways the idea that I'm no longer the mom of very young kids is confronting. What I'm going to do with the rest of my life while my kids are in school is suddenly at the forefront of my mind.
But I'll tell you what I am going to do for the next month or so. Organize. Oh how my house is hard to keep up with in the summertime when there are constant messes and lots of kids around. It will be nice to enjoy a little quiet. And I am going to try hard to be better about cooking good meals. And I have some great Christmas and family history projects planned.
Almost there! At the finish line! Felt sooo good to be done!
Yesterday I was feeling really tired and the thought of this race was a little overwhelming. We've had a busy week! Jared and I went to some evening classes for Education Week at BYU, and we've had a lot of stuff going on with back to school preparations. By Friday night, I was tired.
But this race is so fun. So we packed up our stuff and slept over at Grandma and Grandpa G's house. The kids were in heaven with all the cool video games, their fun Roxy dog, and getting to pick lots of fruits and veggies out of their huge garden. Sometimes when you come from big families like ours, it is really nice to spend some one-on-one time with the parents. They are such amazing people, we always learn so much from them.
I loaded the bus all by myself. A little lonely if you ask me. I really enjoy when I have some friends to ride up with and visit with. But at the top after we got dropped off, I was in great company. I had six friends who were also running this race. Good thing too, because the race started 45 minutes late, so it was fun to have some people to talk to.
In 2008 when I ran this race, I got my best time yet by a few minutes. I'd been training for St. George and had a 17 and 14 miler under my belt already, and so a 13.1 didn't seem too hard.
But this fall I'm not running a marathon. And the the longest run I've done in awhile is an 11 miler a couple weeks ago. So I didn't know how I'd do at the end of the race when you lose that nice shade and huge elevation drop. Anyway, I just decided that I'd go for it and not hold back too much. If I burned out at the end, worst case scenario I wouldn't beat my time from a couple years ago.
The first 9 miles were great. I felt really good, and maintained an 8:00/mile pace. The last four weren't as easy and I was feeling it that last mile. I wanted to go faster, but I was slowing down. I was really happy to see the finish line!
My official chip time was 1:46:35 which is an 8:07 pace. I was really happy with that since I think it beat my last time by about 3 minutes. I felt good all day today and am not sore yet. So I'm already thinking about next year and how good it would feel to have an average pace in the sevens.
I was really happy to see my family as I ran into the finish! It is so fun to have familiar faces in the crowd cheering for me. It makes it a lot more fun to have someone to celebrate a good race with.
Since the race started so late, Jared watched all the elite runners coming in. He was pretty inspired! We are doing the Red Rock Relay in a month, and we've been running together. I am excited for him to experience a race, as a participant. I think he is going to love it.
I got some new running shoes. My second pair of Nike Vomero's. I LOVE these shoes. I tried every kind of shoe it seems, and this one really is the best fit for my feet. I don't get nearly the blisters that I did before.
It made me laugh! You've always had a way with words. Like when you were about three and daddy told you to quit asking to go outside for snow to eat. And finally after he'd had enough of your pestering, he said, "Elise, I don't want to hear you ask for snow one more time!' Then a few minutes later, you came over and asked if you could go outside and get some of that "cold, fluffy, white stuff that falls from the sky."
