Project 52 Date #17

Sharing is Caring
This weeks project was to bake some cupcakes together and then share them with someone else. We chose the Wilders :) We haven't seen them since New Years Eve and with all 4 of us having working schedules we have not been able to get together with them in almost 4 months. So when we got home we starting the process of making the cupcakes together. This definitely wasn't as smooth as our King Ranch Chicken dinner but we were able to make some pretty fantastic cupcakes if I do say so myself! Once they cooled, we frosted them and then I called.... ok stalked a little bit.... Erin to try to find out if they would be available. She was the only one home so we thought we would take the chance and go over just in case Tom made it home later! We got out one of our wedding gift platters (I love this one) and presented the cupcakes as nicely as possible.
When we got there we spent some quality time with Erin and caught up with her for a while and while she was spoiling Jocelyn with Nilla Wafers, Tom walked in from work. So it all worked our PERFECTLY. We got to share our cupcakes AND we got to spend some quality time with people that we love. Great date

He says...I'm no baker thats for sure. Let's just say I need practice pouring batter into cupcake pans....but other than that making cupcakes was fun. I got to pick the icing and you know you never can tell if lemon icing is going to be tart or not. But they turned out pretty good and just the right amount of lemony tart! It was alot of fun to go share our treats with somebody else and who better than dear friends.

Love is…planning (Week 16)

Planner. Cruise Director. Anal retentive tour guide. You name: I’ve been called it by friends and family who know and love me. When vacationing to Disney, I am the one who after booking all the flights, reserving cars and hotel rooms, am on my way to the library to check out the latest edition of the parks’ guide to “map out our assault” to best enjoy the rides. When younger and doing this with my mom, dad, and sister, I actually mapped out the daily routine based on their ride preferences so as to maximize their fun. The sick part: I had fun doing all this.

Fast forward ten years (plus a little), and here I am in the south, 5000 miles away from the place where I pay a mortgage, planning again. This time, it is to maximize my parents’ comfort. Pained with health issues, my parents have engaged my sister and me to help with planning their future: money, care, material items, and daily routines. Living wills, wills, financial planning, estate planning, and dividing the responsibilities between my sister and me have been just a few of the basic tasks to tackle this week. I urge every soul who reads this post to make sure you have your “planning” done. Let those who love you know what you seek in your final days: what are your goals, what funding do you require, and how would you like to be remembered. As my parents’ executor, I retain all their paperwork in a fire proof safe and have electronic copies on my hard drive and backup. I anticipate amendments as years pass by. I know all the details: down to the type of flower my mama wants at her services. As with many of life’s aspects: it is in those little things that she finds comfort. Knowing that we planned as a family, have the details covered, and the big ticket items securely stored, gives her and my father peace of mind. Peace of mind so that they can enjoy life to the fullest.

So, go online to a legal resource, speak to a respected elder to garner lessons learned that may help you down this path, and be open and honest with your family. Plan as much or as little as it suits you. If it cannot be done in one sitting, make sure to revisit it again in a couple of months and take it in chunks. Then, go do something fun as a family- go out for ice cream, ride roller coasters, cheer at a sporting event, and make memories.
- Christina

Project 52 Date #16

Tonight's date was simply to make dinner together and to make something that neither of you had made before. Now I've had this odd desire to make King Ranch Chicken for a long time, so long in fact that I showed Mia this old fashioned recipe like a year ago and she even printed it out and added it to our collection. we just never got around to making it.

Until now!

I found the recipe again, online, and grabbed all the extra ingredients on Sunday while I was at the store. Now I really have no clue why I was so hung up on this recipe but it is the King of Texas casseroles so I was pretty excited to try it out with Mia. So we begin a collaborative effort to dice and shred and saute and sizzle our way through the the ingredients and directions. The kitchen starts to smell amazing. I've got Asleep At The Wheel and Bob Wills playing in the background via Pandora Radio(love me some Pandora!). Not sure why I picked that but it seemed to fit the mood and Mia liked it. Everything was finally ready and we put it all together and in the oven it went. Thirty minutes later and BAMM!!! it's done. I'll be honest, I've made some good meals and I'm a bit of an expert on good food, but I've got to say this may be my/our best work to date.



It turned out soo good, I was pretty impressed with ourselves at how mouth-wateringly amazing it turned out. Definitely the the best King Ranch Chicken casserole I've ever had! It was a great date. We made something together that we had never made before. We did a good job of dividing recipe responsibilities and timing getting it done at the same time. The meal turned out sooo good that I'll be eating it for like the next three days! And we finished the evening off with a couple good ole fashioned root beer floats. Mmm Mmmmm good date night!!!



Mia Says: This date was awesome. The recipe wasn't a simple dump all this food together, it was actually a working recipe and I LOVED IT! JT mentioned that we did a good job dividing recipe responsibilities, but what I loved was that we never said "you do this and I'm doing that", it was just a natural flow of working together which was awesome! Oh and the music that he has playing, I guess he doesn't know that he ALWAYS plays old time country when he's in the kitchen cooking. I guess it must be a subliminal thing that he doesn't even know that he does :)
We also cleaned as we went so when the food went in the oven there was NO CLEANUP, yipee!!! The meal was FANTASTIC. He did a great job choosing a recipe and getting all the ingredients! Great job babe

There's no picture of the final product because we pretty much ate it all...sorry.

Project 52 Date #15

WARRIOR DASH
We have been planning to go to the Warrior Dash with the McClenny's for MONTHS. I knew that it was going to be a balancing act because we don't get Jonathan's work schedule for the month until 2 weeks before the beginning of the month. So we knew that when we signed up we were taking a gamble that he wasn't going to be able to make it. That didn't stop me from being completely devastated when he got his work schedule and the race was on a day that he had to work.

Nevertheless Jonathan took a chance and asked for 1 day off from his Training Officer and after some "just joking" comments, he got the time off. But he still had to work the day before. So the tricky planning began. On Saturday morning Jonathan got off work at 3am,came home and showered, and we packed into Regina's car to head up to Dallas at 4am. We knew that the guys needed their beauty sleep more then Regina and I so we let them sleep on the way up and took turns driving. In our 7 hour(Redbull assisted)drive we solved all the problems in the world, well maybe just our world...lol. It was a 7 hour non stop(Redbull induced) talk-a-thon for the two of us and it was a blast! The drive was perfect and the guys slept the whole way!

We got to my dad's house around 11:30, grabbed some lunch and all took another 2 hour nap (yes we slept alot on this trip) and then we woke up and started getting ready for the race. Now for the warrior dash, you don't have to dress in costume, BUT it is so much more fun to dress up and have fun with it. So after some photo ops (seen below) we anxiously got in the car and headed to the race.


Luckily we were only minutes away from the drop off point, so we didn't have far to go. We put on our costumes and loaded up in a bus to the WARRIOR DASH drop off zone. When we got there, WOW, it was packed. There were waves of the race going off every 30 minutes so there were tons of people. We checked in, got our awesome hats and shirts and dropped our stuff off at the holding zone (Side note: This was one of the most organized races I have EVER been involved in, check-in was beautiful and they have a spot where they hold all your items, so you don't have to worry about a thing!)
4:30 P.M. rolled around quickly and they announced that we could line up for the 5pm wave... we anxiously got to our spots and waited and waited and waited :) We were so excited and nervous at the same time!


And then we were off... the first obstacle was a river run and it was pretty much right away, so there we were up to our chests crossing a freezing current-driven river and then running in mud to the next event.


We took tons of pictures along the way. We made it more about having an amazing time and having fun than worrying about the time. Each event was alot of fun and Jonathan was fantastic about encouraging me all throughout the run and the obstacles. Even better we all donated our shoes (they clean them first) to the local food pantry with a bunch of other participants.


Scariest Obstacle for Mia- Jumping over the fire, only because my quads were killing me from a previous workout so the jump was pretty pathetic but also I was wearing a tutu that I was pretty sure was not flame retardant :)
Scariest Obstacle for JT- I'm not skeerd of nuthin
Most fun Obstacle for Mia- I really enjoyed all the obstacles that you had to climb up something either by rope, cargo net, or just planks and then have to get yourself back down safely lol
Most fun Obstacle for JT- watching Mia have to jump in the scary water!(she had a fear of murky water)

This was one of the best dates that we have done to date and I had a blast! I definitely want to do it next year and we already have planned to do the Great Urban Race in October.

First the guys

Then the girls

Owen flipping into the mud pit and JT too but I covered him, sorry!

Boys playing in the mud

Tidden Warriors

McClenny Warriors

Corpus Christi Warriors

Love is...living in harmony with nature

A treehugger I am. A Lorax is what I strive to become.

Whereas I am not spewing obscenities at whaling ships around the world, I am an activist but a realist. The realities of our modern world do make it difficult to truly be in harmony with nature. But when I embark up a trail and soar to new heights to soak in a view, my whole being and sense of self changes. I feel balanced when crunching through snowdrifts in snowshoes or wading in streams clad in neoprene layers. I learned the true joy that is stopping to smell the roses, especially the wild ones that grow on the surrounding mountainsides. It is that wonderment, that joy, that humbling at the sight of majestic peaks that makes me fight for those that have no voice. Those emotions and that harmony drive me to strike a balance in the world that I inhabit for too short of a time. It's my love for future generations to share in this spectacular world that focuses my work, both professional and pro bono. For my god child, for my friends' children, for the extended family that embraces me during the holiday season.

As with all relationships, even the one a human shares with mother nature is grounded in respect. Respect the fact that even though a human is "at the top of the food chain" that motto is not true in all environments. Where the human is not a constant (read: less light pollution and no major highways), the s/he is not dominant. Humans don't have gills. We don't have wings. We don't have tiny hooves to walk on crags. We don't have a superior sense of smell. We have our place, and we have adapted to sidewalks and markets; but, when in a different environment, our parents all taught us, "when in Rome, do as the Romans", right? Well, the same goes for nature. The kicker is: that lesson does not just apply to when you trek into the wilderness. That lesson applies to the type of food you eat, the type of goods you consume, and the type of car you drive. Around us, birds fly, flowers bloom, mushrooms help decay, and animals breed.

I'm not saying you have to be an electric car-driving hippie (and even if you are, you can't escape all processed foods in our system); but, assess how you fit in harmony with the natural environment around you-- even if it is the sole flower box on your porch....nuture it, let it bring you happiness.

Even though I strive to "speak for the trees", I still have some habits that would make my fellow classmates from school shudder--

I still eat meat; but, with the exception of porkchops, I have changed my view to only consuming what I catch and hunt myself. If I have not quartered or filleted it myself, I try not to eat it.

I purchase products with the least amount of packaging. This hit hard when one of my favorite products was banished from my self-imposed list; but after some testing and online research, I found a comprable replacement. It was hard, and I went through withdrawals; but, I do less recycling now.

I own toxic chemicals-- just a few but some. My love affair with Seventh Generation is well documented since my time in the People's Republic of Vermont; but, darnit, puppy mud stains on my subaru interior can only be matched by 409. It takes DAYS for the car to air out after a 409 scrub; and I distract myself with NPR to avoid thinking about the toxins I breathe in. In all, I like a clean car; and a few chemicals in my otherwise clean air cannot hurt after my childhood upbringing of PineSol and Chlorox Bleach, eh?

Ultimately, the societal changes around us mold our views on how we want to-- or in some cases do not want to- interact with nature. I wake up excited that I have a free day and will celebrate by going on a 14 mile hike. My sister thinks I am psycho. She'd rather garden in the morning, ride her bike to the gym in the afternoon, and then cook dinner on the grill. To each his (or her) own: we each found harmony. We each respect each other's viewpoint...albeit with a little, harmless name calling.

Despite all this, she has promised that if I did need help in ascending a tree trunk to fight for a cause, she'd be on the next plane...as long as I purchase her carbon credits to offset her jet setting footprint.


- Christina

Project 52 Date #14

Last night was date night and I kinda did something different with the prep. I actually prepped everything the night before (dinner - all made just needed to be in the oven, project - all together in bags, just needed to be set out). This made my Tuesday alot easier when preparing for date night after a full work day and also getting some quality time in with Jocelyn before she had to go to bed for the night too. So I came home, snuggled on my baby and popped in dinner right away. Set up the dining room table with our project and then went out to enjoy the outdoors with Jocelyn for the rest of the evening! Bedtime came and we scurried Jocelyn off to bed (in reality, she walked herself to bed and left JT and I standing in the bathroom with the look of "did we just get ditched" on our faces).

So I set up the date and we were off! Our date card had me purchase two wine glasses (Thank you dollar store) and I picked up some paint from Regina and we were to decorate our own wine glasses. So I asked JT to pick a motif.... hmmmm yah we didn't get anywhere on that. So I said lets put all the stuff on there that makes us who we are....his response "I wouldn't know where to start on that". So we came to the conclusion to just decorate :)

Before we started



Here are our final products...

He says:
It was fun and yes I was no help when it came to picking a motif...what kinda word is motif anyways? Painting was fun and kinda relaxing. Now I'm no artist so it pretty much looks like a kid painted it but oh well I enjoyed it and so what if my little fish looks more like a torpedo with fins or maybe a shark... A quiet evening, a couple wine glasses, a little freehand painting! doesn't get much better than that.

Love is . . . a fool

We begin April with "fool's day." Although celebrated around the world (rumor has it that the tradition started with the "kick me" sign on a Scot), in our American society of jokes, pranks, and the reality tv that celebrates those behaviors, I think of it as an American holiday.

So, imagine my surprise when in Fall 2009, my baby sister calls me and tells me the good news. Her now-husband's family had determined their wedding date. Sounds strange, right? Well, not really when you are an American marrying an Indian. My beloved brother in law is from Mumbai. For weddings, Indian families consult shaman to determine the most inauspicious day to exchange vows. And for some reason, these shaman foretold that the best day to marry a white American girl was April Fool's Day. I kid you not. No, really, I'm not kidding.

After recovering from an amazing ab workout that was laughing at the audacity of it all, I began my travel plans. In short: love is flying from Kodiak, Alaska to Mumbai, India for your sister's wedding. Literally, my air time was nearly 30 hours-- not including layovers. In my world of "it's the journey, not the destination", I shook free of old adage and actually soaked in it's opposite.

How?

Dancing through the streets of Mumbai with a traditional Indian wedding party and feeling like I was in a Bollywood movie is worth flying around the world for a week just to relish in the excitement of family, friends, street vendors, and even school children. Moreover, any time in the clouds is worth seeing the utter joy on my sister's face as she joined my brother in law in the festival atmosphere.

What's that old adage about being a fool for love? Yeah, well, I am a fool for that exuberantt smile. Love is...a fool.
-Christina