Step 4 – Ketosis via the Keto Diet

I started on the Keto diet officially on April 21st, 2017 – today marks the 11th day of being on the Keto diet. For those unfamiliar, the Keto diet is pretty simple. It is a high-fat, mid-protein, low-carb diet with a focus on having your body operate off of blood ketones, instead of blood glucose, for energy. The basic premise was summarized in the previous post, but the general idea is that this diet will force your body to operate off of ketones (which come from fat) instead of glucose (which comes from carbs/sugar) – effectively putting your body into fat burning mode. Interesting side note – excess glucose gets stored as fat, excess ketones get peed out – that’s a huge win for ketone energy in my book.

How did it go? Well, from April 21st to May 1st I went from 218.1 pounds to 213.7 pounds – a loss of 4.4 pounds. Given that in the previous step of my diet I lost 2.1 pounds over an entire month, and given that I’d already lost ~20 pounds so far this year (arguably the easiest to lose), I’d count this as an absolutely huge win. Dropping 4.4 pounds in 10 days is definitely a pace I could get used to – I’m hoping it sustains at that rate.

How was the process? Overall I’d say not too shabby. When you read about the Keto diet you’ll often hear of something called the ‘keto flu’. This is really a carb/sugar flu, which is basically a period of time in which you can feel sick, have headaches, etc. while your body makes the transition from having normal carbs/sugar to having less than 20g of carbs a day – basically like coming off an addiction. Luckily for me I didn’t really experience this. I had read that hydration was a big key, and I’ve been very intentional about staying hydrated. The only symptoms I experienced as part of this ‘keto flu’ was that I noticed I felt slightly overheated, like a mild fever, for a single day during some walking around with my son at soccer – I believe that was day 2 or 3. Aside from that I had a couple of nights of not being able to sleep well during that same time – since then I’m sleeping like a baby. I’ve been sticking to less than 20g of carbs a day, and haven’t noticed any negative side effects. I have however noticed some positive side effects which I want to briefly touch on.

Positive Side Effects So Far

• Reduced Cravings – I’ve always been a big snacker, especially late at night – usually snacking up until 11 or 12 at night. I have not snacked at all on this diet. Part of that is trying to adhere to intermittent fasting, but the majority of it is just feeling satiated all the time. I no longer want a snack ~3 hours after a meal. The higher fat content definitely stays with me longer, and I haven’t had any cravings all this week in the evenings – pretty amazing for me.
• Steady Energy – I have noticed that I no longer get the shakes after extended periods of not eating. Previously I would experience shakes and other obvious signs that I had to eat if I went past 11am or so without eating. Since being on the Keto diet I have experienced none of that.
• Improved Mood – I am noticing improvement to my bad mood I would usually have in the hour leading up to dinner. I believe this is because of not needing a sugar/carb fix every ~3-4 hours like before.
• Improved Skin Conditions – This may border on TMI, but I’ve had a couple of skin issues that I’ve noticed have cleared up. First, I have had some sort of dead/white/scaly skin on the back of my ankles/heels for many years now – it is now entirely gone. Second, I had some sort of blister on the bottom of my big toe for 3-4 months now, which hurt bad enough that I couldn’t really walk in flip-flops while at the beach – that has now entirely healed. Sure it could be a coincidence, but I had notable pain putting any pressure on that toe up until the start of this step of the diet, and now it is entirely gone. It went from being inflamed and irritated to being back to normal.
• More Sustained Strength – I have continued to progress in how many reps I can do with my dumbbells (at the same weight as before), and noted that I appear to have longer lasting energy in completing later sets – even at higher reps.

What My Average Day Looks Like

Peeing on Ketone Strips
A few times a day I pee on a Ketone strip. These basically measure the amount of ketones in my urine. A first sign of entering ketosis is starting to get a positive reading on these strips. I started seeing some level of pink/purple on day 3-4 of the diet, and have ranged from somewhat pink to a semi-purple each time since. These strips aren’t the most accurate (there are blood test strips similar to glucose test strips and even a breathalyzer which give more precise numbers), but they were good enough for me to get an idea that I was progressing in generating ketones (something my body wasn’t doing before).

Foods I’m Eating
My diet right now isn’t super varied. It’s something I’m working on, but honestly I am a pretty simple guy that doesn’t much care about eating the same thing frequently. Most days my lunch and dinner consists of the following in some sort of combination: Chicken / tuna / salmon / hamburger / steak + eggs + spinach / asparagus / broccoli + sour cream / guacamole / cottage cheese / shredded cheese / salsa. My main goals are avoiding anything labeled ‘low-fat’ (which really means the fat was removed and replaced with carbs/sugar), and having more fat than protein. I’ve picked up a few different foods to try out, but haven’t yet, including pork rinds, sardines, and string cheese.

Eating out has been somewhat of a challenge, but I’ve done pretty well overall. For example, I went out to eat with family at an Italian restaurant. My first thought was just get a steak and some vegetables, but they didn’t have a steak. My next thought was a meat and cheese plate, but they didn’t have that either. In the end I got a shrimp + pasta meal and just asked them to swap the pasta for broccoli – worked out fine. Similarly, I’ve found that I can still go eat hibachi and just substitute extra vegetables instead of rice. I’ve also been exposed to wedding cake and an ice-cream stand this last weekend, and I managed to only have one bite of each.

When I’m Eating
I’ve largely been following an intermittent diet of not eating after ~8-9pm, and not eating the next day until ~1pm. I feel mildly hungry by 1pm, but given that I’m not eating until midnight the night before anymore, this is a net increase of ~4-6 hours between dinner and lunch with no notable side effects (besides a positive one of not getting the shakes as mentioned above).

How I’m Exercising
For the last 1-2 months I’ve been getting in ~30 minutes of exercise a day. Up until now I have mostly been doing cardio with a VR game called Soundboxing, but I’m now doing 10 minute elliptical runs with short breaks in between. I am also doing 4 different weight lifting exercises daily with 35 pound barbells. I’ve progressed from 3 sets of 10 reps to 3 sets of 16 reps as of today – I definitely have more staying energy.

A Summary of What I’ve Learned

I’m finding some parallels to when I quit smoking 10 years ago. I had tried to do that 3-4 times prior, but always failed 2-3 months in. I only succeeded the last time from educating myself on addiction via Dr. Joel’s daily quit videos. I feel like education on that issue is what made the difference with finally quitting. Similarly, I’d like to think that this diet will succeed since I’ve spent the last few months trying to learn as much as I can about losing weight. I wanted to provide a list of what I consider to be my biggest learnings in that time, because quite frankly the common guidance most folks hear and follow is totally wrong (please forgive me for not adding references throughout these items – as always, do your own research):

• Dietary fat is not bad for you – In the 70′s a nutritional guideline (The McGovern Report) was rushed through the federal government which placed blame for heart disease onto dietary fat intake and instead suggested eating 40-50% of your diet in carbs. This highly-contested guidance led to a food pyramid with carbs as the base, and a wave of ‘low-fat’ foods which replaced fat for carbs/sugar. This has proven to be incredibly detrimental over the last 30-40 years, and is undoubtedly a leading cause of our growing diabetes and obesity epidemics. In reality, higher fat diets can help reduce cardiovascular disease, and Lipitor and other drugs targeted at high cholesterol (and not the specific types of cholesterol) are causing more problems than they are solving. There are a lot of good videos on this subject on YouTube, some of which I linked in my last blog post. Interesting side note, a low-fat diet leads to reduced testosterone and sex drive, and Pfizer makes money both off the Lipitor and the Viagra to fix the poor sex drive due to a low-fat diet.
• Sugar is the problem – Sugar is now in nearly everything we eat. That includes yogurt, bread, and other supposedly healthy, ‘low-fat’ products. The movie That Sugar Film does a good job explaining how sugar is the underlying cause of a number of major health issues wreaking havoc around the world. My biggest gripe about sugar is that I’ve learned that it is addictive, causes a dopamine response in our brain, and causes our bodies to react to a decrease in sugar in the same way we would react to needing a nicotine fix. Basically the more sugar we eat, the more we crave it. The more sugar we eat, the less satiated we are, and the quicker we want to eat more again. After you ween yourself off of sugar you’ll find that your cravings for it (and eating in general) will greatly decrease.
• Calories-in VS Calories-out (CICO) is bunk – While counting calories is a good practice as it forces you to stay within some limit, and potentially reduce your daily caloric intake, it is very misleading. You can do this simple experiment – consume 600 calories of potato chips and soda one day for lunch, and the next day eat 600 calories of meat, cheese, vegetables, and nuts. You will find that the latter will keep you satiated much much longer. It matters what calories you are taking in, not just how many. Similarly, weight gain can frequently be a hormone imbalance – potentially due to an over abundance of insulin due to a high sugar/carb intake.
• It’s about diet, not exercise – Most of what we hear about a healthy lifestyle surrounds exercise, and diet is not as emphasized – no need to stop eating or drinking product X, just play some basketball. In reality, losing weight is ~80% diet, and ~20% exercise at best. For example, if you drink 2 Cokes in a day, that is 300 calories – it would take you 20+ minutes of running on an elliptical to burn that off. If you eat a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream you’re looking at over an hour of intense exercise to burn it off. There are numerous examples of folks losing massive amounts of weight with no exercise just by switching to a low-carb / high-fat (LCHF) diet. Just fix the diet and use the exercise to improve your heart health – it is not your primary driver for losing weight.
• Eating more meals a day likely won’t fix the issue – There is a lot of guidance suggesting that instead of eating 2-3 large meals a day, you should instead eat 5-6 small meals a day. Studies on this subject have shown that the number of meals, assuming the net nutrients/calories for the day are the same, has no overall affect on weight loss. Conversely, if you are eating food with carbs/sugar, then each meal stimulates an insulin response – which is what spurs fat storage. There may be no harm in eating 5-6 meals a day, however it can prevent your body from ever getting into fat burning due to the insulin/glucose spikes after each meal, especially if you aren’t following a LCHF diet.

So What’s Next?

The plan for now is to stay on course. I’m seeing great weight loss in the first 10 days on a ketogenic diet, and I see no need to change course at the moment. I am toying around with getting further into fasting now that I’m not battling with frequent hunger bouts and my body is getting used to converting my stored fat into energy. Otherwise I feel pretty confident that my current game-plan will get me to my goal – I will report back.

So obviously for my New Year’s resolution I decided to lose weight. That has been my New Year’s resolution for the last ~3-4 years or so. Typically I would have a goal of losing 15-20 pounds in 3 months, and sometimes I would succeed, but then my goal would be over, and I would promptly put it all back on with a few extra pounds for good measure – a common story for people on diets. I had decided that the reason I always gained it back was because my goals were too short. This year I decided I would do something different – I would set a 9 month goal to lose 37.4 pounds. In case you’re curious, my starting weight was 237.4, and I wanted to get to 200 – hence the odd number.

The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result. – Einstein

Now that I had a goal, the question was how to get there. I had absolutely no plan. I knew that I had success with monitoring carbs in previous diets via a somewhat Atkins diet of low-carb and high-protein, but I also knew that I never stuck with it and I was afraid I would eventually plateau and not get the big losses I was looking for (I really needed to lose more like 50 pounds to be fit). Without a specific plan I knew one thing I could do to get started – stop eating like an idiot.

Step 1 – Stop Eating Like an Idiot

At the end of 2016 I was on a 6 month project for a very large client (arguably the biggest mobile app I’ve worked on), and near the end there was a pretty serious crunch. I would wake up, go to the basement, work on the app until lunch, go out and grab lunch (my only chance at getting out of the house), come home and eat, and then get back on the computer until 6. I did this for the majority of ~3 months – mostly living off of fast food for lunch. Between October 1st and December 25th I went from 228 lbs to 237 lbs – that’s +9 pounds in 3 months – done over a year that would’ve been ~40 pounds gained. Just for giggles, here is what I was having for lunch most days:

Arby’s – beef & cheddar (2) – 950 calories, 90g carbs, 11g sugar
Taco Bell – XXL Grilled Stuffed Burrito, 1 soft taco – 1030 calories, 119g carbs, 8g sugar
Chik-fil-a – Chik-fil-a sandwich with american cheese (2) – 1020 calories, 85g carbs, 12g sugar
Zaxby’s – Kickin’ Chicken sandwich & shake – 1565 calories, 169g carbs, 105g sugar
Burger King – Bacon King sandwich – 1040 calories, 48g carbs, 10g sugar

On top of that I was eating Ben & Jerry’s ice cream 1-3 times a week – the whole pint. My favorites were Peanut Buttah Core and Half Baked – for reference here are those calories:

Peanut Buttah Core – 1280 calories, 108g carbs, 80g sugar
Half Baked – 1080 calories, 128g carbs, 108g sugar

Since step 1 was to stop eating like an idiot, I (mostly) stopped eating all of the above – simple enough – and that’s all I did from January 1st to February 22nd. During that time-frame I went from 237.4 to 230.8 – a loss of 6.6 pounds. I was headed in the right direction, albeit somewhat slowly, but it gave me time to figure out what I was going to do next.

Step 2 – Track Calories – CICO

So for step 2? I figured tracking calories was the way to go. I became a frequent visitor of /r/loseit and they preach a pretty consistent CICO (calories-in VS calories-out) diet for weight loss. It was straight forward, made sense, and was easy enough to follow, so that was going to be the plan for this year’s diet. I began tracking everything I ate in MyFitnessPal – everything. I used an online calculator to figure out my ‘maintenance calories’, subtracted ~15% from that, and that was the amount of calories I stayed under each day – somewhere around 2000 calories. I primarily switched to a fish based diet for lunch, and since Rachel cooks healthy at night, I had my bases covered. The only problem was that I still really craved ice cream – and Ben & Jerry and I had to break up. Luckily for me, along comes Halo Top – a pretty decent ice cream with 280-360 calories for the whole pint. I could keep eating entire pints of ice cream multiple times a week, and so long as I had room in my calorie budget for the day I was good. Between February 22nd and March 21st I went from 230.8 to 220.2 – a loss of 10.6 pounds.

Now during this stage we picked up a Withings smart scale. The thing was pretty sweet and made daily weigh ins a no-brainer. Basically I just stepped on the scale, and the weight showed up on the scale screen and in MyFitnessPal – no more manual entry. But I started noticing an interesting trend. On days where I would eat bread my weight would always increase by a full pound. I would still be well under my daily calories, but that 6 inch Subway sandwich would add a solid pound to my weight at the next morning’s weigh-in, and by the following day it would be gone – it was repeatable every single time. I started to remember how in previous years I had had good success in avoiding carbs, and thought maybe I should start doing that again.

Step 3 – Tracking Macronutrients and Limiting Carbs

I decided that my next step was to not just track calories, but pay attention to my macronutrients (carbs, fat, and protein), something I kept seeing mentioned in weight loss forums – I focused on carbs specifically. I stopped eating bread pretty much entirely, and on days where I did (maybe while traveling for example) I would always still see that 1 pound temporary gain. I started paying attention to carbs in other things as well, but my main guidance was another online calculator which calculated the macronutrients I should be targeting. It suggested 35% carbs, 29% fat, and 36% protein – and that along with my daily calorie goal became my measuring sticks. From March 21st to April 21st I went from 220.2 to 218.1 – a loss of 2.1 pounds.

You might’ve noticed my weight loss in this step was a paltry 2.1 pounds over 30 days. Well, during this time we went to Hawaii for a week, and followed that up with a really nice Easter Sunday family dinner – both included copious amounts of deserts. For our Hawaii trip I put on 3.1 pounds. Interestingly enough, I dropped 2.2 pounds of that 3.1 pounds gain in just 24 hours after stopping the carb/sugar/alcohol/desert madness. For the Easter weekend I gained 2.1 pounds. Interestingly enough, I dropped 1.5 pounds of that 2.1 pounds within 24 hours after the massive Easter meal. This was directly parallel to the gains I had noticed before with eating bread – I had eaten lots of carbs/sugar during these two times, gained a pound or two, and dropped it after 24 hours. It was time to look into this more.

So why despite those two instances (which I mostly recovered from) did I only lose 2.1 pounds in this 30 day period? Well, if you look at my weight graph leading up to these two events it was apparent that my weight loss was slowing and plateauing – something I had been worried about early on with this approach. It was time to go back to the drawing board.

A Brief Intermission of YouTube and Research

Out of curiosity, I started looking into why a slice or two of bread would make me put on an extra pound, but only for a day – I thought that was odd. I found out that carbs (and sodium to a lesser degree) make you retain water weight. I thought that might explain why I would be up a pound, but then it would be gone the next day. But I wasn’t convinced that there wasn’t a larger story there – maybe I would lose more weight if I avoided carbs even more.

During this time I was listening to a lot of the Joe Rogan podcast on YouTube, and kept hearing him talk about the diet that he, and many MMA fighters, were on – the Keto diet. It sparked some interest since Joe Rogan is one of the most fit 49 year olds I’m aware of, and because he is a pretty straight-forward kind of guy. I looked into Keto briefly, saw that it limits daily carbs to less than 20 carbs a day, and immediately thought this was a diet for extremists – which to some degree it is. Less than 20 carbs a day means you can’t even eat a single banana without going over – that was crazy. So, I kept with my calorie and carb counting, started paying more attention to protein as well, and started working out at the church gym – that was going to be my plan for this New Year’s resolution I was already 3 months into.

Another thing I came across during this time was something called ‘intermittent fasting’. If you look at a lot of weight loss enthusiast posts you’ll eventually run into folks preaching on intermittent fasting. The basic idea being that you go some period of time every day in which you don’t eat anything – just drink water. All of us do this when we sleep, but these folks would just push this a bit further, and were claiming to have larger weight loss gains because of it. I was already somewhat doing this as I frequently skipped breakfast, but these folks were doing even more, like not eating from 8pm at night until 2pm the next day – I was doing more like not eating from midnight to noon. As I started looking into this more I came across a Dr. Jason Fung (author of The Obesity Code) – he along with Jimmy Moore literally wrote the book on fasting (The Complete Guide to Fasting). I watched a few of Dr. Fung’s videos on YouTube and got exposed to not just intermittent fasting, but long-term fasting.

The best of all medicines are rest and fasting – Ben Franklin

Can you imagine not eating for a full 24 hours? That’s crazy right? Have you ever seen me if I haven’t eaten for 12 hours? I was a hangry dude. I was blown away that folks could make it a full 24 hours. Obviously I knew that some religions fasted, but I never really thought about it much – it is so counter-intuitive to how most of us live. So if imagining a 24 hour fast is crazy, how about 7 days? How about 14 days? How about 30 days? How about 40 days? How about 300+ days (nearly 10 months)?! I’m not talking about a juice fast here, I’m talking about nothing but water and a daily vitamin for 300+ days. How the hell is that possible? I realized it didn’t matter that I was clueless how it was feasible – it was feasible – and many prominent historical figures including Jesus and Ghandi practiced it. I couldn’t fathom how it was even possible, but I had to admit I was curious if that was a way for me to finally drop this gut. But still, I knew I couldn’t make it 24 hours myself, and I started to wonder why.

Do you remember when you were in health class as a kid? Do you remember why they told you that your body stored fat? What I remember being told is that our body stores excess energy as fat in case we ever need it. That somehow our body could use stored fat during times of hunger. And guess what? That’s how people can fast for 30 days on nothing but water – their body converts their stored fats into energy they can use to survive. So how is it I couldn’t imagine even going 24 hours? Well, as it turns out it is because my body pretty much had never tapped into those fat stores – which is why my weight has gradually increased for the last 20 years – my body was storing excess energy as fat in case I ever needed it, and since I eat 2-3 times a day every day, I was never tapping into that stored fat. So I began learning more about what happens during fasting.

Our bodies are interesting things. They are incredibly adaptable (as shown by being able to fast for 30+ days), and there are processes our body uses to adjust itself based on our diet. Turns out that fasting is possible because our body can convert fat into energy through a process called Ketosis. What’s interesting about ketosis is that it doesn’t generate Glucose for energy (the main energy pretty much everyone uses day to day from dietary carbs/sugars), it generates something called Ketones. Turns out that our body can operate on either glucose or on ketones as its primary energy source. When you fast, typically around days 2-5 (the worst days of the fast) your body switches to burning fat for energy, and for the rest of your fast your body is operating off of burning that fat via ketosis. So, it would seem that ketosis is the process for converting stored fat into energy (aka burning fat), and that was something I wanted to do. So, why was I so afraid of fasting even 24 hours when it was proven folks could go 30+ days? Well, it turns out it is because my body has been addicted to glucose/sugar/carbs for the majority of my life, and switching off of that would cause some serious changes to my body and cause my body to start fiending for glucose because it has never known anything about using ketones for energy.

Learning About the Keto Diet

So then I wondered, how does this fasting ketosis tie into the Keto diet I had heard of? If the ‘keto’ in Keto Diet is short for ketosis, how does that relate to ketosis used in fasting? Well, remember that the Keto Diet is a diet of less than 20g of carbs/sugar a day, and that the glucose that most of us use for energy comes from those carbs/sugars. By avoiding carbs/sugars in a Keto Diet, your body switches to burning fat instead to generate ketones for energy – the same as fasting. I knew this sounded crazy, but this was what I needed to do to get to the next level. I was going to focus on Ketosis – the breaking down of fat for energy (aka burning fat) – and that was going to melt this stupid belly – that was the game-plan for this New Year’s diet that I was already 4 months into.

So at this point I knew I wanted to get into ketosis, and I knew that the Keto diet focused on this, but I didn’t know much more than that. After looking into it a bit further I found that the typical keto guidance for daily macros was ~5% carbs, ~30% protein, and ~65% fat – I thought this was crazy. Surely if I ate that much fat I would have horrible cholesterol and increase the rate at which I had cardiovascular issues right? Doesn’t the intake of fat directly affect cholesterol levels and heart disease? Wasn’t the government telling us for the last 20+ years to avoid fat? Isn’t that why every product on the shelf has a low-fat version (something which always made me wonder why anyone would want the full-fat version)? Well, as it turns out that guidance was bunk, and that there are plenty of examples of people greatly improving their heart health via a Keto diet.

The change in dietary advice to promote low-fat foods is perhaps the biggest mistake in modern medical history. – Aseem Malhotra, a British cardiologist

Time for a little off-topic story. When I left my last job 4 1/2 years ago it was to focus on mobile app development. I had seen a new mobile development technology that I thought was heads and shoulders above anything else in the market, and they had just received their series A funding. I quit my job, and started focusing entirely on their technology stack. I was convinced this was the way to go, and that I wanted to be at the forefront of it. During my first 3-4 years I would get calls from recruiters looking to staff a mobile dev like me. When they told me the technology stack they were using it was always something other than what I was focusing on – what I had left my job to focus on. I would always tell them to give me a call back if they heard of any jobs using my preferred technology stack, and they would always laugh to themselves and say “sure, I’ll give you a call if anyone ever wants that”. It wasn’t until 4 years later when Microsoft bought that little mobile development technology company for $500+ million dollars that I started getting calls again from those same recruiters – the ones who thought I was crazy for investing so heavily into it just a few years earlier. Now they had plenty of jobs paying plenty of money looking for exactly my skill set – and I had 4+ years of experience in it – more than almost anyone else. I tell this story to say that industries as a whole are slow to move – and that applies to the healthcare industry as well.

A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD. – nutrition.org

After a bit of research I found numerous articles confirming that fat intake is not linked to cardiovascular disease – something that many researchers have been saying for years now and is only finally being accepted. Much like my off-topic story, it takes time for perceptions to change and for industries to catch up with the latest happenings. While it has been admitted for years now, many people still associate dietary fat intake with cardiovascular health – including some doctors unfortunately. It’s kind of like how the rule for the number of spaces after punctuation changed to 1 (from 2) over 15 years ago, but a majority of 40+ year old’s still put 2 spaces because it was in an official guideline book 30 years ago, and chances are they will use 2 spaces for the rest of their lives – despite being wrong and not done in any professional publications for 10+ years.

Still worried about such high fat intake? That’s okay – it is definitely weird compared to the status quo. But suppose I was going to eat lunch today and could have either: A) a bed of spinach + ground beef + cottage cheese + 2 hard boiled eggs + guacamole + shredded cheese with a water to drink, or B) 2 Reese’s peanut butter cups + a bag of Cheetos + 2 slices of pizza with a Coke to drink. Which do you think is healthier? Which do you think is higher in fat? Which do you think is lower in carbs/sugar? When you lower the percentage of carbs/sugar in your diet, one or both of the other 2 major macronutrients must raise, be that protein or fat – and guess what? Excessive protein also can be converted to glucose.

I did quite a bit of YouTube watching and article reading after deciding on going on the Keto Diet. It’s too much to cover here, so I’ll just say to do your own research – which will typically involve watching several incredibly boring hour long videos at various nutritional conferences held over the last few years. Suffice to say, everything I have seen/read suggests that the obesity epidemic we are seeing is largely tied to excess carbs/sugars, and that a ketone fueled body can reduce stored fat and avoid (and potentially reverse) type 2 diabetes. Ketosis can also stabilize your energy throughout the day and avoid peaks and valleys associated with glucose/carbs/sugars, which – TA-DA – makes fasting much easier.

Videos worth watching:
The Calorie Deception – Dr. Jason Fung
The Story of Fat: Why we were Wrong about Health
Cardiovascular Disease and a LCHF Diet – Dr. Sarah Hallberg
The Art and Science of Low Carb Living: Cardio-Metabolic Benefits and Beyond – Dr. Jeff Volek
What’s the Difference Between a Low Carb Ketogenic Diet & the Atkin’s Diet? – Dr. David Jockers
Recent Developments in LCHF and Nutritional Ketosis – Dr. Stephen Phinney (Part 2)
The Cholesterol Myth – Dr. Eric Berg
The Two Big Lies of Type 2 Diabetes – Dr. Jason Fung
Reversing Type 2 diabetes starts with ignoring the guidelines – Dr. Sarah Hallberg

So, on to step 4 – full on ketosis on the Keto Diet.

To be continued..

Raymond Charles Peters
November 6th, 2013

I’d always heard that parents live vicariously through their children. After being a parent for 3 years now, I can attest to that fact. One part of it I’m only just beginning to understand is the idea that there are things in life I’ll likely never accomplish. Something about seeing a young child grow into the world makes you realize that they really can be anything. For all I know, William will be a world champion break dancer, musical genius, or loving father to his own little boy. No matter what he chooses to be, I will live vicariously through him. Which is why it pains me to no end to know that at least for now, he won’t be a big brother – at least not to our child who died in utero this week.

There are so many things about this experience that I never want to forget. Sights and sounds that I will always cherish. Details I already fear I am forgetting. I hope that Rachel and I take the time to document these precious memories as best as we can, although I know we will never forget the pain, sorrow, sadness, disappointment, fear, shock, and love experienced in just the last few days. One of the books we got from the hospital has so many great quotes on loss. There are so many that I’ll likely cherish forever.

“Imagine a love so strong that saying hello and goodbye in the same day was worth the sorrow.” – Author Unknown

I want to keep a list of things to remember, just in case I can’t tomorrow. This list is to ensure that I never ever ever forget the precious moments we shared. The sadness of these events is so intertwined within them that they are hard to bear, yet I hope to never forget them just the same.

• Having family portraits with you in your mother’s womb and your big brother William hamming it up – photos I’ll always cherish
• Feeling you kick just minutes before you passed
• Seeing your heart flutter for its last time (so much pain, so precious and amazing a sight)
• Having hand and feet prints made to always have them to look at and cherish
• Holding you in our arms so that we can always remember meeting you and seeing you – you were such a beautiful baby
• Naming you and imagining the type of man you might have grown to be

It wasn’t until Raymond passed that I realized how incredibly attached I was to the little guy already. I think more than anything it was more yearning to live vicariously through our son William, to have a little brother to watch over and raise. To pal around with and get in fights with. To have a little buddy he could always count on and watch over. We lost our baby this week, but we also lost our little baby brother.

We will be having a small family service this weekend. I know so many of our family, friends, church family, choir family, nursery friends, coworkers, etc. want to be here for us. All we can say is thank you for your thoughts and prayers. If you’re looking for a way to help, please consider donating to an organization that helps children who, unlike our son, don’t have enough love in their lives. Consider adopting a child in another country or giving a one time donation to Compassion International, donating to the Atlanta Children’s Shelter, supporting Operation Smile, giving to your local church’s children’s ministries, or finding another way you can give to those children out there who need so much more than us.

Our little brother was due within 2 days of William’s birthday. Before this tragedy we had planned a small birthday party for William in mid-December. Now that this has changed everything, we plan on throwing a big birthday party for William on/near his birthday in January. We hope to celebrate William’s birthday (and celebrate Raymond’s in spirit) that day. We also plan to attend the Walk to Remember in October – we would love to attend this with friends as well.

Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

< Part 3: The (Not) Gory Details

So there I was strapped to an operating table with my arms laid wide, a curtain across my chest, and a nurse at my head. I’m sure the nurse’s job was to make sure I didn’t pass out or die, but to me the most important thing she did was talk. She talked to me the whole time. I have no memory of what we talked about. I just knew as long as I talked I wouldn’t think about what was happening on the other side of the curtain. Normally in situations when my nerves are likely to overpower my sense of reason, I just hold my breath. (I didn’t say it was the smartest tactic.) But a C-section takes about 20 minutes. I needed a new plan, and talking to a complete stranger seemed just the ticket.

Roger says I seemed so calm through the whole thing, but I was holding on to my last shred of sanity. I knew if I let myself get scared even a little, I’d lose it. I’m not brave enough to power through something like that. So like a Southern lady sippin’ a mint julip on the veranda, I chit chatted my way through the ordeal. It worked.

Half way through the surgery, the doctor told Roger, “You gotta see this. It’s the most perfect head I’ve ever seen. You have to look.” Now let me explain something. On my way into the operating room, while Roger was elsewhere dressing up in scrubs, I told the doctors and nurses that Roger and I had no desire to watch the surgery, cut the cord, bury it under a tree, or eat the placenta. We’re not one-with-nature people. We “camp” in cabins with running water and a big screen to watch the football game. We don’t do “gory details.” Let’s not forget that I could barely handle watching other women go through labor.

But when a doctor who delivers hundreds of babies a year tells you he’s seeing the most perfect head he’s ever seen, you man up and look over the curtain. I’ll let Roger tell you the rest:

I had told the doctor I wasn’t up for watching the surgery/birth – I have a weak stomach, and I am quite aware of it. When he said “Hey dad, you have to see this,” I felt the need to listen, and I am very glad I did. I don’t know what I expected to see when I looked around to the other side of the divider – probably some blood, entrails, and a writhing bloody baby reminiscent of the diner scene in Aliens – but instead what I saw was something totally different. There was no blood that I noticed, only something that seems totally odd now, but was incredibly beautiful at the time. Down in my wife’s lower abdomen area was a perfectly shaped baby’s head sticking up seemingly out of her belly button. The doctor was slightly holding his head as he showed him off to me. Little William was only out up to the neck, the doctors and nurses had been cleaning out his nose and mouth before continuing, and were pausing to look him over before continuing. His head was perfectly shaped since he hadn’t had to pass through the birth canal, and his face was the most tiny and beautiful human face I’ve ever seen – perhaps ever will see. It was the first time I got to see his face. To see his first moments outside of the womb was amazing, and a sight I’ll never forget. I know I couldn’t have handled the surgery process itself, but I am very thankful the doctor encouraged me to see a once in a life time event, even if just for a few incredibly powerful and emotional seconds.

Finally William was starting his life on our side of my belly. While the nurses cleaned William up, Roger took cell phone pictures of him so I could see him too. I kept asking Roger if he looked OK. Did he look like he had Downs? And I realized I was scared – but no longer for me and Roger. I was scared for William. I wanted him to have a good life. In the presence of my newborn son, my focus finally shifted from me to him. And he was perfect. All the worrying was for nothing.

Then the nurses held him to me so I could see him and touch him. I’d waited so long to touch him. To see him. To hear him. And there he was – my perfect angel. I was ready right then to take him home forever. And that’s how Roger and I became parents.

No story is complete without pictures and a soundtrack, so here are ours. The song is Switchfoot’s “Your Love Is a Song.” It’s not a typical newborn baby song, but I think it reflects the emotions we had during this time. There were very bright highs and a few dark lows, but in the end we received more than we could have ever hoped for or imagined.

Now the real adventure begins.

But now…

< Part 2: The Waiting Game

They didn’t want me to go late, so on Friday the doctor gave us a choice on what day to be induced. Monday was Martin Luther King Day and a holiday for Roger, so we chose Sunday thinking we’d save as much of Roger’s two-week paternity leave as we could.

Sunday. We were ready. We’d watched Pregnancy for Dummies. We’d been to the birthing class where I’d managed to watch a video of a baby being born, after nearly passing out through the first two videos (no really, I had to leave the room and sit down before I fell down – just call me Super Mom). We’d been to the baby essentials class. We were sure we could keep any baby alive for at least a month. We’d survived Snowpocalypse 2011 (that is, being snowed in for a week with the constant fear that I’d go into labor). We were ready to be parents. We were ready to finally meet William.

Off to Northside Hospital. The plan was to give me Cervadil that night and Pitocin Monday morning, thinking contractions would start Monday morning and we’d have a baby some time Monday evening. My parents had decided to drive in from Alabama Sunday night instead of their previous plan to come Monday morning. There was no need to come Sunday night, we thought, since the fun wouldn’t start till Monday morning any way. Little did we know…

While Roger and I settled in at the hospital, his folks headed to Scalini’s to pick up eggplant parmesan for me. Scalini’s eggplant parmesan is well known for making most pregnant women go into labor. Women from all around go there to eat when they’ve had enough and are ready to have their baby. Of course, I didn’t really need Scalini’s, but I figured every little bit would help. I didn’t want to be in labor any longer than necessary!

I was nervous – that’s a given – but I was completely excited too. I was high on the thought that we’d become parents in the next 24 hours. In the moments we had to ourselves, before our parents arrived, before the nurses started their routines, in the quiet hospital room we prayed. And looking back now, we know God was with us through the night. We felt his hand on us as we waited for William to arrive. We felt a calm that can only come from him. And we were grateful.

The nurse came in to introduce herself and proceeded to try killing me, I mean put in an IV, before she finally called her colleague to handle the IV for her. Yikes. She was a great nurse though, IV terror aside. Next up was the Cervadil. It went right in as expected. Done for the night. Bring on the eggplant parmesan!

Instead, a few minutes later I lay in bed looking up at 5 nurses looking down at me anxiously and talking in hurried voices. One nurse told me to get on all fours so the baby could drop as low as possible while another nurse called the doctor. I think she forgot I was in a hospital gown that was 10 sizes too big for me. I slowly rolled over onto my hands and knees, trying to ignore the sides of my gown drooping to the bed, while nurses fluttered all around me. Drama anyone? Seriously, who ordered the side of drama? And do I feel a breeze on my naked butt?!? Which is currently in the air for all to see? MY PREGNANT NAKED BUTT?

I was scared. So was Roger. William’s heart rate plummeted when the Cervadil was put in, which (they told me later) sometimes happens with babies. Eventually I lay back down and they took the Cervadil out. No worries, they said. We’ll just let you do your thing tonight and we’ll start Pitocin in the morning.

But William had other ideas. According to the monitors, I started having contractions. They were still too small for me to feel, but every time I had one, William’s heart rate dropped severely. The nurses had me roll over on my side for a while, lay on my back a while, and on and on. Nothing seemed to appease William. It was time to call the doctor.

Meanwhile, both of our parents had arrived, but I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink. Eggplant parmesan aromas wafted my direction, taunting my empty stomach. And did I mention the garlic rolls? So unfair.

At 11:30 pm, the nurse told me instead of having a baby Monday evening, we were going to have a baby in about 30 minutes. I asked if I was having a C-section, as though there was a chance I’d be pushing the baby out myself in the next half hour. Hey, I was freaked out. I wasn’t thinking straight.

Next, the doctor came by to see what I thought about having a C-section. I don’t really remember this part, but Dad says I laughed and told him he was the doctor and he gets paid to make those decisions, so I was on board with whatever it was going to take to get William here safely.

But I was scared. Really scared. The only surgery I’d had up to that point was wisdom teeth removal. The funny thing is, they put you to sleep to pull out a few teeth, but you’re wide awake while they pull a baby out of your belly.

My biggest fear? That I’d hurl during the surgery, causing the doctor to screw up. I’d already hurled once before thanks to the epidural. The nurses assured me that it happens all the time, and it’s no big deal. I don’t think hurling during surgery was covered in the baby books I read. Oh wait, I didn’t read anything about C-sections. I could barely stomach the chapters on labor!

I didn’t hurl.

And I never ate my eggplant parmesan.

Part 4: And Then We Became Parents >

< Part 1: We’re Pregnant!

For the last few months of pregnancy, Roger and I had been seeing the doctor twice a week. When the doctor explained that I’d have to see them twice a week for several months, I immediately objected, “But I have a job!” To which the doctor replied, “You’re having a BABY.” Touche.

So why the twice a week dance? The doctors saw some troublesome factors on an early ultrasound, which led to ultrasounds every other week. It was not as awesome as it sounds (yay! seeing my baby all the time!), because they managed to find a new “soft factor” or “potential issue” or “it’s probably nothing but I’m gonna scare you to death anyway” quirk every time we went. For months Roger and I agonized over the possibility that William may have Down Syndrome and a skeletal problem similar to dwarfism.

I never wanted to bring it up at church for the prayer list or talk at great length with those outside my most inner circle, because I was embarrassed. I kept thinking that some how I had caused the problem, and I felt selfish because I didn’t want to deal with Down Syndrome. I hated myself for even having thoughts like that, and I hated that my excitement about a new baby was tempered by my fear. I think deep down I was afraid I couldn’t love my child if he had special needs, and that thought hurt me the most.

Then it got worse. The doctor suggested at one appointment that I may need to deliver that weekend, about 10 weeks early, to have a healthy baby. Roger and I took the news like adults, but I later broke down over lunch at Chic-Fil-A (in a booth over a chicken sandwich – oh brother). It was too much. First, I worried I couldn’t handle William’s needs, and now I was worried he wouldn’t live at all. This is why God sent me Roger. He reminded me it was OK (and normal!) to have those feelings and that I wasn’t alone. He knew William would be OK and that I would indeed love our child no matter what. He was always sure of that.

Fast forward to 39 weeks pregnant, over our final meal the night before heading to the hospital, and I still worried I wouldn’t love my baby. I know me. I’m fickle. I get all excited about a new project and after a few months I’m over it. What if William was born and I was suddenly over it? What if we didn’t bond? What if I didn’t cry at seeing him? What if I didn’t have the mom gene (not to be confused with mom jeans, of which I hope to never have)?

I soon learned how absurd those worries were.

Meanwhile, despite the drama at the doctor’s office and inside my own head, I handled pregnancy like a champ. I’d read about all the scary obnoxious things that can happen while you’re pregnant and continuously breathed a sigh of relief that I had very few of them. Fatigue set in around the start of the 2nd trimester, turning me from a Couch to 5K-er to a couch potato nearly overnight.

Morning sickness? More like ALL-DAY NAUSEA. But it only lasted through the first trimester, and I was never actually sick – just always feeling like I might be sick at any moment. This caused me to eat less, which unfortunately caused me to lose a little weight early on. Wheat Thins became my best friends (they settle any stomach), and salad was put on notice. Did you know that lettuce has a smell? IT…IS…DISGUSTING. Ahem.

Watermelon was soon put on notice too. Trying to be healthy and feed William nutritious snacks in the womb, I brought home a container of chopped watermelon. As soon as I opened it, my stomach declared war on my intestines. I promptly closed said container, trashed it, and alerted Roger that watermelon was not allowed within 50 feet of me. I eventually figured out the problem – I had super smell. It was like my pregnancy super power. Unfortunately, some foods (salad and watermelon) don’t smell so great when you have a bionic sniffer.

My last pregger-related symptom was cravings. I learned that it’s a myth that women crave weird foods like ice cream with pickles. Most women crave good foods, and ice cream is the most common craving. Well, shoot, I crave ice cream all the time any way, so I didn’t count that as a pregnancy nuance. In my third trimester I craved kid food – spaghetti Os and chocolate Pop Tarts specifically. One of my coworkers even offered to use her Costco membership to buy Pop Tarts in bulk for me. Since William arrived, I’ve not craved either. I see a lot of spaghetti Os and Pop Tarts in mine and Roger’s future, because that was all William.

Remember those pounds I lost in the first trimester? Kid food took care of that. I gained 30 pounds by the end of it. William was only 6 pounds, 5 ounces of that. Another 4 pounds of it was “other stuff I lost during delivery.” So that leaves me to work off 20 pounds. I blame the Pop Tarts.

Thank goodness my aunt bought me a jogging stroller!

Part 3: The (Not) Gory Details >

WILLIAM!

Now that William’s here, I want to update this website to reflect our new family addition. It may take a while since I’m busy with William most of the time, but it’ll get there soon enough. Stay tuned!

Houston we have a belly.

According to What To Expect, William is the size of an eggplant and my uterus is the size of a soccer ball. So I’ve been doing some shopping lately…

Open Letters to My Favorite Clothing Stores

…

Dear Gap,

I should have started my maternity work wear search with you. I’m sorry for doubting you for even a minute. Your black pants, though pricy, are the best thing I’ve bought for tackling meetings without feeling like my clothes shout, “Hey I’m pregnant!” Your casual clothes are cute too, and thank goodness for your sale rack. Because of you, I’ll look great at my friend’s wedding and I only spent $17 on the dress. Love, Rachel

…

Dear Old Navy,

You disappoint me.  Your prices are just right, and I love your casual clothes, but you are severely lacking on the work wear unless I want to shop online. Attention – women are pregnant only a few times in our lives and we have no idea what size our bellies will be. We need to try stuff on. Period. Please carry more stuff in your physical stores. Love, Rachel

…

Dear Target,

You are not one of my go-to places for clothes, but you have pleasantly surprised me. Your selection of non-dumpy maternity wear is outstanding! I should have bought stock in your company before making my purchase, because I think I spent enough to now own the West Cobb store. Love, Rachel

…

Dear Ann Taylor,

I find it wildly exciting that you carry maternity wear, but my fear that your pregger pants will cost $100 prevents me from gracing your doors. I’ll visit again once I’m back to my normal size. See you in 2011. Love, Rachel

…

Dear Banana Republic,

[crickets...] Hello? I need you please. Love, Rachel

Since I’ve started working at Home Depot, I’ve been bringing my lunch more often. It’s easier than trying to get out of the building - ride the elevator 14 floors, walk to the parking garage, climb two flights of stairs, wait in a line of cars to exit the garage (and repeat) – and it’s a lot healthier and cheaper. It’s also a great way to keep a stash of snacks handy for my new pregger diet.

Pre pregnancy, I ate like normal people – 3 meals a day and maybe a snack after dinner. OK, usually a snack after dinner. Now I eat more like 6 times a day! At first, it was to keep nausea at bay. Hunger is your worst enemy when you’re feeling sick already. Now I eat more often because I’m hungry more often. If I eat 6 meals though, I’ll have the pregnant look long after William is born!

So instead, I eat mini meals all day long. And that means coming up with good snacks and rediscovering some old favorites. I’ve heard that you’ll gravitate towards foods the baby likes, and so far William likes comfort foods from my childhood days – spaghetti Os, Snack Packs, and white cheddar Cheez-Its (so good they’re possibly God’s choice in crackers). But like a good mama, I also work in fruits, veggies, and whole wheat when I can. Honey Nut Cheerios is a great way to get some calcium and wheat (ooh pregger tip!).

And that’s another new thing. My pre-pregnancy 90 calorie breakfast bar no longer cuts it. If I eat one at home, I’m starving by the time I get to work 30 minutes later. So now I eat an actual bowl of cereal every morning. I haven’t done that since high school! I stick to Cheerios mostly, but Fruity Pebbles makes an occasional appearance too.

The number one thing I stick to? Water.

And more water.

With a side of water.

What’s the quickest way to pass out? Just don’t drink enough water. And I hate drinking water. I’m just not naturally thirsty all the time. I rarely drank anything before. Now I force myself to drink at least 64 ounces a day. It’s a small price to pay to ensure I don’t faint. Nothing like fainting to make a girl feel . . . well, wimpy.

But with all the new food requirements comes a few aversions too. Don’t come near me with watermelon or salad. These foods are the enemy. My stomach smells them or sees them and promptly attacks me. I’m getting better about salad actually, but watermelon is still on the black list.

I wonder if William will like watermelon. For now, I’ll blame him for the aversion.

This makes the first of three babies scheduled to enter our family this year. Our other niece Lauren (the Marine) is having a girl in December, and we follow up with another boy in January. Oh, and just to add to the fun, Roger’s sister LaNell is getting married in October. What a happy year for our growing family!

But back to the cuteness at hand…

Isaiah is only 3 days old in these pictures. Megan is being a great mom, showing me and Roger how to change the baby and telling us what to expect (eating, pooping, and sleeping – got it!). She’s had a great mentor though – Chanell is one happy grandma! And speaking of happy grandparents, James is pretty excited too. We missed seeing him due to work, but we saw the Clemson outfit Isaiah would be wearing this Saturday for the game, so he can cheer for the tigers along with Grandpa.

Roger and I got some practice in while we were there. Isaiah is the youngest baby I’ve ever held. He’s so sweet!

Roger was taking all of the pictures, so I don’t have any of him holding Isaiah. But I promise you he held him AND fed him. He was a natural!

We’re so happy for Megan. She’s feeling great and being the best mama. She even had time to baby me through a spell of nausea that hit while we were there. Oh the fun of pregnancy! She’s totally in love with Isaiah, and he’s obviously pretty fond of her too.

And Grandma’s pretty proud too.

More pictures of Isaiah are at our photos site.

So far, pregnancy has been going really well. I had some nausea during the first trimester, but thankfully it passed after several weeks. I feel great most of the time now.

I recently signed up for a prenatal yoga class and am loving it. I’ve never taken yoga before, so I was a little nervous about the first class. But the instructor is great and the class is full of both newbies like me and veterans.

Roger and I set up our baby registry last weekend. I never knew there were so many kinds of baby wipes. It was great having Roger with me, because I know without him I would have been so overwhelmed! Fortunately, we visited the store ahead of time to get an idea on prices for some of the larger items – strollers, high chairs, and such. We’ve been shopping consignment sales for gear, and we managed to find an awesome stroller (among other items).

We’ve also been figuring out how to decorate the nursery. This part is really fun. The internet is full of neat stuff for a baby’s room. Check out the crib set we bought. It was delivered to the house yesterday.

Several people have asked me to post belly pictures. Roger has been taking photos of me each week, but for the most part I look like a smiling idiot who thinks showing her belly is hilarious. This is starting to change now that my belly is growing more, but there’s still not much to see. Here’s the latest photo, from 21 weeks:

More baby updates to come!

New cabinets and a new paint color add up to a prettier and more useful laundry room.

Roger did most of the work, although I did help bring the ridiculously heavy counter top upstairs…TWICE.  We had to cut the counter to size (go go new circular saw!), which wasn’t a big deal. The huge warp in our front wall, however, was a little challenging to hide.

I’ve had a crazy urge to paint lately, and this project satisfied that craving. Roger and I painted the walls Friday night, and I painted all of the trim Saturday. Then we both painted the mailbox and stair rails outside Saturday morning. It was a beautiful day and we were on a roll, so why not?

Read the rest of the post to see before pictures and how the kitties helped on the project.

Before…

This open space seemed perfect for cabinets and a counter.

The shelf was home to way too many things, including an iron I haven’t used since we moved in. Definitely time to add more storage!

The process…

Roger did a great job installing the cabinets. I was really impressed. I would have never tackled a project like this on my own, but it was extra fun working on it with him.

Amelia made sure we were doing it right.

Clara suggested an alternative use for the drawers.

This is the short version of the story though, the TLC episode if you will. Check out our photo site for more pictures of the process.

Ugh. It was so bland! First, I needed parsnips but couldn’t find them, and I didn’t know what they were anyway. So I’m on my phone at Publix looking up pictures of the elusive veggie, only to find out it’s an uptight carrot. I’m not a huge fan of carrots, so I opted for mushrooms instead.

And maybe that was the problem? Do parsnips have an incredible taste that I missed out on? Who knows. But all was not lost…

I was able to get 3 separate meals from this brisket. THREE! I was determined, because I just cooked 3 pounds of meat and wasn’t about to let that money go to waste. But I also wasn’t about to eat flavorless crap either. Read on for the recipes…

• Slow-cooker beef brisket with beer (bleh)
• Brisket fajitas (yum!)
• Philly cheesesteak sandwiches (easy! fast! good!)

Dinner #1: Slow-Cooker Beef Brisket with Beer

If your slow cooker includes a removable insert, you can brown the brisket and onion mixture a day ahead, place all of the ingredients in the insert, and refrigerate. The next morning, place the insert in the slow cooker, and when you arrive home from work, a tasty entrée will await you. The onion and parsnips function as flavorings, and so you’ll want to serve a vegetable side dish. Try Spinach and Kale Turnovers or mashed potatoes.
from Cooking Light

1 (3-pound) beef brisket, trimmed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
1/4 cup water
2 cups vertically sliced onion (about 1 large)
1 1/2 cups chopped parsnip (about 2) [Carrots will work too]
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 bay leaf
1 (12-ounce) bottle light beer

Rub brisket with salt and pepper. Heat a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add brisket to pan; cook 10 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove brisket from the pan. Add 1/4 cup water to pan, stirring to loosen browned bits. Add onion and parsnip; sauté 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Place onion mixture, vinegar, bay leaf, and beer in a large electric slow cooker. Place brisket on top of onion mixture. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Discard bay leaf. Cut brisket diagonally across the grain into thin slices. Serve with sauce.

Yield: 12 servings (serving size: about 3 ounces brisket and 1/3 cup sauce)

CALORIES 160 (28% from fat); FAT 5g (sat 1.9g,mono 2.1g,poly 0.2g); IRON 1.9mg; CHOLESTEROL 49mg; CALCIUM 20mg; CARBOHYDRATE 5.6g; SODIUM 232mg; PROTEIN 20.5g; FIBER 1.1g

Dinner #2: Brisket Fajitas

Use the directions on a fajita kit (like Old El Paso), but throw the meat in towards the end since it’s already cooked. Shred the meat before serving.

Dinner #3: Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches

onion, sliced
any other veggie you want (I used mushrooms)
cooked brisket meat
provolone cheese
hoagie or Italian rolls
sweet peppers (optional)

Saute onions (and whatever other veggies you want) over medium heat. Add the brisket meat and cook over the medium heat for a few minutes. Shred the meat.

Put the meat and veggies onto a hoagie roll and top with a slice of provolone cheese. Broil for 2-3 minutes to melt the cheese and toast the bread.

(Optional) Top with sweet peppers such as banana peppers.

HOWEVER…

They serve martinis and margaritas made with liquid nitrogen (that stuff Mr. Wizard used once to freeze a rose and then break it by smashing it onto a table). When you order one, they bring a bucket of their house mix and pour the nitrogen into it. It freezes immediately, and they scoop it out like ice cream. Yum!

Small warning: If you’re OCD like me, don’t sit at the end of the table close to the waitor. While I was amazed at the science and awesome factor of my drink, I had a hard time concentrating due to my fear of the nitrogen splashing on me. I was afraid my hand would freeze and in my rush to the hospital, I’d trip, fall, and break it into a million pieces.

TECH WRITERS CAN’T WORK WITHOUT HANDS! At least, not easily. Deep breaths…

OK, I’m good.

Don’t go to Elevation for the food, but definitely go for the view and drinks.

That’s the Bellagio, and it was our home for the MLK holiday weekend. Well, more like our crash pad. Since we partied like college kids the entire time, we saw very little of our ultra fancy room.

This was mine and Roger’s first time in Vegas, and we were impressed. The hotels are beautiful. I kept thinking how small Vegas looked, but then I realized it only looked small because EVERY building is huge!

While we were there, we saw Love – a Cirque du Soleil show set to Beatles music. It was incredible and by far the best part of the trip. It was our first time seeing this kind of show, and we couldn’t stop smiling through the whole thing. The music was great (it’s the Beatles after all!), and the choreography and interpretation of the songs were whimsical and touching. I would pay twice my ticket price to see it again.

Another highlight of the trip was eating at Hard Rock Cafe and playing with their Microsoft Surface tables. These huge touchscreens let you explore Hard Rock’s memorabilia collection with your own hands. This was my first time seeing a Surface screen up close, and it was super cool. I can’t wait to get a coffee table version in our house! (One day, one day.)

We even had a Surface screen at our table, but it didn’t work too well. Kids had gotten to the touch screen. Hardware is no match for kid fingers. Here’s the group, happy and full.

On Sunday we headed to old Vegas, land of cheap tables and old-school slot machines (you know, the ones that actually spit the coins out the bottom instead of printing a ticket). Leslie and I played $2 roulette for an hour with winnings from a penny slot (Miss Kitty – yeah!), drank free alcohol, and walked away with $40. And Eric sat down, played a single number (which pays 35 to 1), and actually won. “That never happens!” – direct quote from Eric himself.

Here Leslie and I are having a little fun. We’re trying to pose like the girly statue behind us. However, a weird guy was walking up behind us, and in our rush I posed more like a flamingo than a show girl.

Speaking of goofing off, Roger and Kevin posed with Humpty Dumpty.

They weren’t the only ones…

This is why you go to Vegas with friends. They understand why a photo with Humpty Dumpty is necessary. And they don’t judge you for it.

We had many other adventures, and you can check them out on our photos page. It includes mine and Roger’s photos and some of Camille’s, because, well, she has a fancier camera and mad photography skills.

I knew then the trip was changing my life, and it’s an odd feeling to be aware of such a change as it’s happening to you. But what I didn’t expect is the lasting impact it’s having on me. I find myself often thinking of Ecuador: the kids dancing at Colinas del Norte, Pastora Ruth singing to us after VBS, school kids racing to hug us.

I’ve struggled lately with being happy with all that I have when I know the people in Ecuador have so little. I nearly had a nervous break down Christmas shopping, because I felt like I was slapping God in the face by buying stuff that makes me happy but doesn’t feed or clothe me. Why should I have all these wonderful things (and that’s what they are – just things) when people in Ecuador face poverty with potentially no way out of it?

My head knows that God doesn’t want me to feel guilty. My head knows that God wants me to know his compassion and then share it with others. My head knows that God sent me on that trip to show me how his plan continues on in the face of impossible obstacles.

But my heart tells me I’m wasteful, shallow, selfish.

And, well, I am wasteful. I am shallow. I am selfish. And I may be a few more adjectives I’d rather not share. But I’m thankful that I love and follow a god that put me on a path (or plane?) to overcome those bad traits.

Because of God, because of Ecuador, I know…

• …the world is unfair, but we don’t need the world. We only need God.
• …at times I will doubt that all I need is God.
• …my family is financially blessed. And that’s a good thing because it allows us to help others.
• …church family is crucial to survival and growing in faith.
• …God’s always there, even if I can’t see him through the muck of my own self centeredness.
• …I’ll never understand why some people suffer and some don’t. And it’s OK to be sad about it. But it’s not OK to wallow. I have to get out there and do something about it!

So no more guilt. Instead I’ll focus on love. God loves me so that I can love others. Guilt is just another ploy for me to focus on me, but love forces me to look outside of myself. Guilt is inward, but love is shared. Guilt is stifling, but love is action.

So instead, I’ll share a story… Recently my local grocery store Publix rearranged their aisles. I thought I had mastered the new order fairly well until last night.

That’s when I learned that while spaghetti and Velveeta cheese are considered “Ethnic Foods,” tacos and related Mexican treats are not. And on top of that, they were placed on aisle 0, which faces the bakery (what?!?) and has no sign. NO SIGN!

Now if I managed a grocery store and was forced to have an aisle with no sign, do you know what I’d put on that aisle? Random crap that few people buy. Not tacos – possibly the easiest quick fix meal on the planet! I live in the land of soccer moms. I’m thinking tacos (and hot dogs, frozen pizzas, chips, soda, and juice) are hot ticket items.

A conversation

Me: Excuse me, where are the tacos and that kind of stuff?

Stocker: On aisle 0, facing the bakery.

Me: (confusion on my face) Oh. How does THAT make sense? (I flashed my sweetest smile to soften my sarcasm.)

Stocker: (blank stare) …

Me: I mean, spaghetti is on the ethnic foods aisle. So how is Mexican food not ethnic?

Stocker: Well we moved the organic foods so they are on the shelves with everything else instead of their own section. So now the tacos are on that aisle.

Me: (blank stare) … … … OK. Thanks for your help!

This is what it’s like to be a technical writer. The table of contents at Publix makes no dang sense, and I’m apparently the only who notices or cares. Ah well, at least the recipe was good!

Chicken Tamale Casserole

(Image and recipe are from Cooking Light.)

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1  cup  (4 ounces) preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided
• 1/3  cup  fat-free milk
• 1/4  cup  egg substitute
• 1  teaspoon  ground cumin
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground red pepper
• 1  (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
• 1  (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Martha White)
• 1  (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
• Cooking spray
• 1  (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)
• 2  cups  shredded cooked chicken breast
• 1/2  cup  fat-free sour cream

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 354 (36% from fat)
Fat: 14.1g (sat 7.1g,mono 3.3g,poly 1.2g)
Protein: 18.9g
Carbohydrate: 36.3g
Fiber: 2.5g
Cholesterol: 58mg
Iron: 1.7mg
Sodium: 620mg
Calcium: 179mg

I managed to catch a nasty cold just in time for New Years Eve, and it was one of those that forces you to rest all day, even though you don’t really want to. But ironically, I think the rest helped me over all, because I woke up on fire this morning! I’m NEVER “on fire” at 6:00 on a Monday morning (OK, at 6:00 on any morning). Especially this particular morning since it was only 18 degrees outside!

New Years is a time to reflect, and in that spirit I’m reviewing the books I read in 2009. Not all of these were stellar choices, but I stopped feeling guilty about unfinished books a long time ago. If I’m not hooked by page 100, I’m done! Actually, I start getting skeptical around page 50. I’m too busy to waste time on a boring book, even if it is a “classic.”

Here’s a quick run down for my 2009 reads:

• Favorite book: Water for Elephants
• Least favorite: The Shack (don’t get me started)
• The movie didn’t live up to the book: The Time Traveler’s Wife
• The movie was better! Confessions of a Shopaholic

You can also click each book cover to see my rating and a quick review of it.

My 2009 Reads

Rachel’s favorite books »

I’m participating in a contest called The Great Experiment. It was started and is hosted by The Girl Who.

Each month, a topic is posted and readers are asked to submit a blog post about the topic. Then all the readers vote on the topic they like best. It’s $10 to enter, and the winner takes home all the money.

I thought this was such a neat idea. So simple and fun. This month’s topic was open, so I entered my post on cooking pulled pork sandwiches. Check it out, and if you like it, be sure to vote for my entry.

To vote (ends Saturday night at 10:00pm Mountain Time):

Voting is only open for one day, and only one person can vote from each computer. She tracks IP addresses to keep it fair.

• Go to The Girl Who blog.
• Enter a comment saying that you are voting for my post.

Wish me luck!

Normally this rule is easy to follow (despite my love for Christmas music), because I’m in the church choir. Around September we start practicing music for the Christmas cantata, and by November we are having extra rehearsals devoted to only the cantata music. It’s Heaven!

However, this morning I don’t know what happened. I cranked my car and 104.7 The Fish greeted me as usual. I can always count on them, because they wait until the Friday after Thanksgiving to start playing Christmas music. So I was confused when I heard the DJ say, “It’s The Fish Holiday season…” and proceeded to play “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.”

Well that was all it took. I’m like a junkie – a Christmas music junkie – and I needed a fix. But I was maintaining. I was OK. I was going to make it to Thanksgiving dang it! Mind over matter!

But here’s the thing. I love Christmas music. No I mean, I LOVE it. I have Christmas music on my iPhone all the time. I never know when I’ll need to hear “O Come, O Come Emanuel” or “O Holy Night.” Usually in the sweltering sauna we call August around here, I can listen to one song and I’m good.

But in November? With the leaves falling and the wind blowing? With my excitement that my parents will be here in less than 24 hours? With pumpkin pie waiting for me? How could I resist? It was the perfect storm. So I gave in. I sang along with the radio and then switched to my own music. It was a holiday hoedown in my car all the way to work this morning!

I’ve managed to regain control of myself, so I won’t be singing “Frosty the Snowman” while I cook the ham. Baby steps. I can do this.

Why should you make this dish? Sure, it’s delicious and somewhat healthy. But let’s get serious. Here are the real reasons to make it:

• watching 1 cup of Arborio rice soak up 3 cups of liquid is better than watching old reruns of Mr. Wizard’s World
• all the stirring and chopping builds up your arm muscles
• your mom never let you throw a pile of leaves into a pot and cook them
• it’s meat, veggies, and carbs in one dish (who needs sides?)
• saying “risotto” makes you feel like a real chef
• nothing fills you up quicker than rice so this meal can go a long ways

This is yet another great recipe from Martha Stewart. It was really easy to make, and I found all the ingredients at my local Publix. Click the link to view the recipe. Enjoy!

Tomato and Sausage Risotto

Prep: 10 minutes Total: 55 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, in juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3/4 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 bunch flat-leaf spinach, (10 to 14 ounces), washed well, tough stems removed, chopped (about 7 Cups)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving (optional)
• 2 tablespoons butter

Directions

• In a small saucepan, combine tomatoes (with their juice) and 3 cups water. Bring just to a simmer; keep warm over low heat.
• In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add sausage and onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up sausage with a spoon, until sausage is opaque and onion has softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add rice; cook, stirring until well coated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine; cook, stirring until absorbed, about 1 minute.
• Add about 2 cups hot tomato mixture to rice; simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until absorbed, 4 to 5 minutes. Continue adding tomato mixture, 1 cup at a time, waiting for one cup to be absorbed before adding the next, stirring occasionally, until rice is creamy and just tender, about 25 minutes total (you may not have to use all the liquid).
• Remove pan from heat. Stir in spinach, Parmesan, and butter; season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately (risotto will thicken as it cools), and sprinkle with additional Parmesan, if desired.

Source for recipe and image

After Lauren’s graduation, we headed to Hilton Head for a weekend at the beach and stayed at the Marriott Resort and Spa at Palmetto Dunes.  The first day we went to the spa, which was really nice after driving from Atlanta to the coast in constant rain. We didn’t plan much for the weekend, because it was supposed to rain the whole time. But then something crazy happened – the sun came out.

And stuck around.

So on Saturday we headed down to the pool, and discovered flags. Each pool chair had a flag you could raise for when you needed a drink or food or whatever. Hello lap of luxury! There was a bar and a restaurant next to the pool, so you could eat at a table right on the beach if you wanted. We passed on the alcohol (it was before noon) (ok, that wouldn’t really stop us – we were just not thirsty), but we took a short swim and that water was cold!

Then we headed down to the sand to check out the beach. The beach there is pretty, and like most Atlantic beaches I’ve seen, has a huge area of packed down sand where the tide comes in and out. That always amazes me, because on the Gulf the tide comes in about 5 feet. So there’s not a lot of packed sand lying around. It’s all fluffy white sand that gets everywhere (and stays everywhere despite the 3 showers you took to get rid of it).

That afternoon we explored the south end of the island and found Sea Pines. Yeah, we just thought we were mingling with the fancy pants folks at the Marriott. Sea Pines has mansions on the beach and golf courses on the PGA tour. This place is gorgeous! We at lunch at The Wreck of the Salty Dog outside overlooking the harbour and then wandered around that area looking at shops and sights.

Then we headed off to Harbour Town to tour the lighthouse and visit more shops. They had a Christmas shop (Heaven!) where we found a nativity for Mom.  My mom doesn’t officially collect nativities, but during Christmas her house is covered in them. (I’m on my way to becoming an unofficial collector too  – it must be genetic.) Anyway, a palmetto tree makes up the right side of the nativity, and I thought that was a cool way to tie South Carolina into it. It also shows Mary and Jesus on a donkey, which I’d never seen before in a nativity.

Late Saturday evening we went to Brews on the Harbour, a beer, jazz, and seafood festival at Shelter Cove Harbour. This festival is pretty new to the island, as this was only the second year for it. Roger found out about it through an article in a local magazine that did its best to convince Hilton Head Islanders that beer wasn’t just for frat boys anymore.

See, Hilton Head is all about their wine. Every restaurant we went too had a page long wine list. The first restaurant we went to served Roger a Magic Hat 9 in a plastic cup, while my Riesling was presented in an actual wine glass. See the problem here? It was a Magic Hat people! It’s not like we were having Miller time!

So this festival was all about showing the masses how great beer can be. Yay! Unfortunately they ran out of glasses and gave us a Dixie cup instead for the SAME PRICE. And they gave us drink tokens. Tokens? What happened to all the beer you can drink from a tiny cup? Ah well, the festival is still a toddler. It will grow and learn and become a better festival one day. We still had fun!

After a long day I fell asleep watching the UGA/Arkansas game. The lead changed hands 4 times in 5 minutes, but even that wasn’t enough to keep me awake. And it’s a good thing I fell asleep early, because Roger woke me up in time to see the sunrise. I was too confused to say “what the??” and just sort of stumbled out of bed. And I’m glad I did. I got a great picture (see above) and some quiet time with my sweetie.

Check out the rest of our Hilton Head pictures on our photo site.

Last Friday Lauren graduated from Marine boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina. We’re so proud of her. As her mom said, she’s an adult now (and yes, there were tears soon after). I asked Lauren how the final test (known as the Crucible) went, and she told me it was “fun.” According to Wikipedia:

…the Crucible is a rigorous 54-hour field training exercise demanding the application of everything a recruit has learned until that point in recruit training, and includes a total of 48 miles of marching . It simulates typical combat situations with strenuous testing, hardship, and the deprivation of food and sleep. A recruit is given three MREs and four to eight hours of sleep through the entire 54-hour event.

Yeah, that sounds like “fun.”

We got to the base around 6:00am so we could find a good seat, and the Marines were already up and practicing the ceremony for the 1,000th time. The weather was awful, but we didn’t mind too much. After all, if Lauren could deal with total hell for 12 weeks, we could deal with a little rain.

Unfortunately the weather didn’t let up, so the ceremony was moved inside. There’s not as much room inside, so the Marines didn’t march by the crowd as they would have outside. But they still looked great. From my vantage point, graduation went something like this:

• An officer yells or grunts something I don’t understand.
• All the Marines move together from attention to saluting to at ease.

I asked Lauren later if she could actually understand what they were saying or if she just knew what to do and when. She said at first, the officers speak normally to them and slowly. Then they speed it up and get louder until you’re used to it. So yeah, she knew what they were saying.

After graduation, we walked down to greet the toughest member of our family. Here she is with her parents and recruiting officer. The uniform she’s wearing is called her “Service Charlies.”

By the way, the little tag on her shirt is not a name tag. It’s a medal to let you know Lauren knows how to use a gun. She also explained to me a few combat tactics she learned, including her tan belt in mixed martial arts. I’m a little afraid (and totally proud!). Definitely getting my niece whatever she wants for Christmas!

There’s more pictures on our photo site, including some from family day where you can see more of the base.

Since football season is upon us, I have started making one of my all time favorite snacks – Velveeta and Rotel cheese dip (do I hear angels singing?). There’s nothing like watching SEC football while chowing down on corn chips and cheese. This stuff is so good it makes me cheer for Bama. Well, as long as they aren’t playing LSU or Auburn. It’s not good enough to make me cheer for Tennessee, but I digress.

Anywho, so when I saw a recipe that started with the word VELVEETA (seriously, do you hear angels singing?), I had to try it. It’s super easy to make, the ingredients are cheap, and it tastes good. And kids can easily help with this recipe (oh yes, I went there – straight to the baby train).

As usual, I made a few notes to make my cooking experience easier next time:

• Buy a pre-chopped onion – Yes, it’s more expensive than buying an onion and chopping it myself, but it’s still cheaper than Roger hauling my hiny to the hospital after I slightly nick my finger with a knife and then pass out from the sliver of blood that appears, trip over a cat on the way down, and hit my head on the counter. Plus, I’m pretty sure blood doesn’t go with anything – even Velveeta. Pre-chopped onions – another reason I love Publix, and until I actually attend one of their knife skills classes, I’ll continue to buy these. It’s not that I can’t chop veggies. I just have a bad history with onions. OK? Stop judging me.
• Velveeta is fun for everyone! – If your kid is old enough to use a knife, let them cut up the Velveeta. It’s soft enough to use a butter knife, so it’s pretty kid friendly. If they’re too young to use a knife, then they can throw carefully place the chunks of cheese into the pot for you. Now, where is my mommy blog license?
• Brand names are for suckers – Because this recipe is from Kraft’s magazine, they pimp all of their products in the ingredients. Hey, it’s just good ol fashioned marketing. But I used grocery store brands for all of it (except the Velveeta – there is NO SUBSTITUTE – angels don’t sing for regular old “cheese product”), and it tasted fine.
• Take your aggression out on the taters – Frozen hashbrowns are frozen. Yes, I see how obvious that is now, but I wasn’t thinking about that before. And the taters don’t come in a bag of just 4 cups, so I had to break them up somehow. I threw them in the microwave for 1 minute and then took my knife to them like an ice pick. It was like experiencing a whole new kind of frozen treat. The taters broke apart with ease, and I had a strange sense to smile and say muhahahah. But moving on.
• Sour cream could add some flavor – Nothing exciting about this statement. But I think adding a dollup of sour cream to each serving could be quite tasty. (Did I just say “dollup”? I’m delirious from the Velveeta.)

Check out the recipe below and enjoy!

Ingredients

This is Drufo. He was one of the dogs at the construction site in Ecuador. His favorite resting spot happened to be where the team was digging an 8 feet deep hole. But did that bother him? Heck no! He just jumped down in the hole and took a nap. And don’t worry – he had an escape plan . . .

It means “Hills of the North,” and it’s a special place in the hearts of our Ecuador mission team. In years past the team has worked with the children at the daycare here. The kids are ages 2-5. We visited them on our last work day, and they managed to touch all of us in just a few minutes.

Whenever I have a bad day, from now on I will think of these kids. They made me laugh and hit a spot of pure joy I didn’t know even existed in my heart. But they also made me cry as I finally saw with my own eyes how unfair life really is. The teachers told us the kids had no friends and that we were the only ones to visit them. Some of the kids are orphans who live with families who can barely support themselves.

Miss Alice, a lady at our church, crocheted about 100 hats to give to the kids. They loved them and were excited to find out they could take them home. The hats were adorable and brought smiles to all of our faces.

One of the kids’ favorite activities is dancing. The teachers turn on the music and the kids go nuts. We danced with them until the altitude stole our last breath (so we danced about 5 minutes hahah). I shot a video of the kids before a teacher pulled me into the dancing madness with them.

Someone on the team said they left a piece of their heart at Colinas del Norte. I feel the same.

Today Karen worked construction, so I led the music (Tanya, are you proud?!?). Even though I volunteered for this job, I was really nervous. The songs are in Spanish and the tunes are new to me. But today at VBS not only did I do a pretty good job leading the music, I had FUN! God was there.

Chris hurt his arm working construction and so had to join the VBS team for today and tomorrow. But it was awesome with Chris. The kids love him and he’s a great addition to our team. God knew we needed him there.

Travis shared a story tonight about how his working area was directly in the sun. The helpers at the church tried several times to make some shade for him with tarps, but it never worked. Later, the pastor told the translator he had something to tell Travis. He said, “We tried to provide you shade but failed, so God sent clouds.” Travis said the clouds stuck around the rest of the day. God provided.

We can’t fail. God is making sure of it, and I’m so thankful for His power. At devotion, Gail told us that God is always there providing for us, but we often miss it in the comforts of home. I tell you what I’ve learned – God’s love and power are magnified here. It’s like suddenly His love for us is in focus; it was always there but now I see it so clearly.

Thank you to everyone who gave me (and all of us) the chance to be on this mission. I know I’m not alone in saying that the experiences here are life changing.

And finally more pictures! First from the construction site. Today some of the church members came out to meet the team and see their progress.

I’m sorry again for the lack of VBS pictures. I’ll try to snag someone’s memory card and copy some of the photos. I snapped these while hanging outside the daycare between sessions yesterday. The kids come out from everywhere and love to have their picture taken.

The construction team is in south Quito, and the VBS team is in north Quito at a daycare. I don’t have a lot of pictures from VBS, but I promise Karen has taken tons of beautiful photos. We had about 40 kids this morning and 40 after lunch, all between 6-11 years old. We also had the help of two translators – Pamela and Margarita.

The kids listened to the story of Elijah and watched a skit. OK, the skit was not great the first time we did it, but by the afternoon we were getting much better at it. We also sang a bunch of songs (the kids love to sing!) and worked on crafts.

After lunch we had an hour of free time (thanks to Pamela and Margarita offering to prepare one of the crafts for next time), so we explored some of the area around the daycare. Our guide Adriana took us shopping and took us to the school where the kids went. The kids were so excited to see us. We had a great time being with them and taking pictures.

After work we headed to the market, ate dinner, and had our devotion. We ended the night looking at pictures Roger and Karen took. I know everyone is tired, but I also know we all had a great day. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

There are so many stories. This blog posting is less than even the Cliffs Notes version. Just know that God is working here – even through those of us who only know a few Spanish words.

We made it to Ecuador! I don’t have a lot of time to write, so here are a few highlights. We landed safely last night around midnight. Earlier today I saw the airport and runway, and now I’m really happy we landed at night. Small runway, huge plane, and surrounding volcanoes – sounds like a good action movie.

Today was for exploring before our work begins tomorrow. We traveled to the Equator . . . twice. The first time we went to the actual location, where we performed some nifty science tricks. Water drains straight down – oddest thing I’ve ever seen. Roger has a movie of it and I’ll post it later.

Next we went to the “Middle of the World” where the French originally thought the Equator ran. Hey, they were only off by about 200 feet, so that’s not too bad! There’s a beautiful monument at the park and shops surround it.

Middle of the World is a really neat tourist spot. There’s a lookout on top of the monument, and we could see for miles.

After lunch we went to church at Mama Yolis. The construction teams last year helped build classrooms for Mama Yolis, and we got to see the finished rooms today. Church was done in Spanish with an English translator. That was definitely a different experience, but I enjoyed it very much.

Tomorrow we start the real work – construction and VBS. But for now, I’m off to dinner. We miss everyone!

A few notes about this recipe:

• It has a good flavor, but I can see where some people may think it’s bland. I may try adding a little more soy sauce next time.
• I couldn’t find sesame oil at Publix, so I bought a sesame seed marinade. Seemed to work fine, although it may be the reason the flavors were a little bland.
• The red pepper flakes make this dish a little spicy. I liked it, but if you’re sensitive to hot food, go easy on the flakes.

Recipe: Lighter Sesame Noodles

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to stay for the game, because Roger and I already had plans for that night. But we tailgated for a few hours. I definitely recommend going to a game, because the facility is super nice and the traffic isn’t bad at all. I hope I get to go back soon and actually see a game. But for now, I can tell you the parking lot is very nice and well suited to tailgaters.

And here are their 700 classmates who graduated with them. The speaker called students’ names for over an hour!

Graduation was Sunday afternoon, so we all went to dinner Saturday night at RB’s. It’s a restaurant right on a port, where people can dock their ships while they eat. We ate upstairs on the outdoor deck and afterwards hung out on the pier watching pelicans and dolphins play in the water.

Immediately after graduation, Lauren and Christian left with their staff sergeant for boot camp. They’re both joining the Marines and will be in boot camp at Paris Island until their September graduation. It was really hard to tell them goodbye, but everyone is so proud of them!

More pictures are on our photo site.

The picture above is a word cloud of all the posts on this blog (click the image for a larger version). I used Wordle to make it. The size of the word is proportional to how often it’s used. So I think about Roger, Amelia, and Christmas the most. Makes sense – they’re 3 of my favorite things.

Roger (with some encouragement from his sisters) wanted to take her home. My logical side said no way! We don’t need another cat or a huge vet bill for shots and spaying. But a few hours later when we got ready to leave, there she was – sitting on the front porch waiting for us.

So I gave in.

But who could resist this face? Meet Clara . . .

According to the vet she’s about 7 months old. We’re keeping her in the guest bathroom for now while she heals from being spayed. Next Saturday her stitches come out and we’ll introduce her to Amelia.

To make the transition more smooth, we’ve brought her out in the cat carrier so she can see Amelia. It’s basically a hiss fest every time they see each other, but we’re hopeful they’ll settle down like proper ladies. I guess we’ll see next weekend!

Picture courtesy of Tanya and her cell phone.

On a trip to visit my parents, Roger and I turned onto one of the many back roads in Wilmer and were pelted with splatterings to the windshield. Like any born and raised Gulf Coast girl, I knew exactly what was happening – love bugs flying like mindless idiots. There are so many of them that you often mistake them for rain, until you realize wait, rain doesn’t leave smudges . . . ewww. Welcome to Alabama my friends!

The curious thing is, I hadn’t realized it was love bug season yet (oh yes, there’s a season – the bugs show up twice a year every year). And that’s when I fell in love with Atlanta all over again. Sure, we drive on 7 lanes of I-75 in mind-numbing traffic while risking our lives as we dodge 18-wheelers trying to merge onto 285. But I’ll take it any day over swarms of love bugs.

However, mosquitoes do inhabit Atlanta. I should know. I was bit 7 times this weekend. And I won’t mention the huge black spiders I’ve seen in our garage (even Roger thinks they’re big).

Attention all bugs: you can bite me! Well, you know what I mean.

The Barely Balanced acrobats…

Doesn’t the crawfish with a chef’s hat just crack you up? Last weekend Roger and I hauled all of our auction items down to my parents’. Then Mom and I put together baskets for each item. We learned that working with cellophane is NOT FUN. Sure, we laughed plenty, but a lot of it was out of frustration over what we dubbed the cello-PAIN.

However, we managed to finish a few baskets. This one is full of fancy hair products donated by Rick and Leslie (thanks guys!). I almost kept the Green Tea shampoo for myself, because it smells so good.

Mom bought shrink wrap this week and reported that it was much easier to deal with. So the rest of the baskets won’t cause the drama we experienced late Saturday night.

If you’ll be in town May 2, check out the auction and food. It’s for a good cause, and the company will be great. If you won’t be in town, but you still want to help out, you can send donations directly to the church:

Wilmer UMC
P.O. Box 156
Wilmer, AL 36587

Be sure to write “Ecuador Mission” on the check. Or you can give donations to me and Roger, and we’ll get it to the right place. Thanks for everyone’s support!

We got to the courthouse early to grab seats and then explored the town a little.

The play is fun. It starts outside the courthouse with a small set of house fronts. Then it moves into the courthouse for the trial and final scenes.

My only criticism is that the play version is a little preachy (the book is more subtle about the issues of classism and racism), and they leave out most of the Boo Radley stuff. So anything dealing with Boo later seems really forced. But that being said, I still had a great time.

Lately I’ve been cooking recipes from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food, and almost every recipe I’ve made has been a winner. (Only one recipe was a total failure, but at least Roger and I figured out we don’t like lentils.)  So I turned to their website for a pulled-pork recipe.

This recipe is super easy and delicious! The taste of the pork is good, but it’s subtle enough that you could add barbeque sauce to it if you want. A few notes I made while cooking:

• It calls for a 3-lb., boneless “pork shoulder.” I couldn’t find that at the store, so I got “pork loin roast.” I figured any 3-lb. boneless piece of pork would be fine. I was right.
• In step 2, it says to add the remaining “cup” of ketchup. Note that they mean the remainder of your 3/4 cup you started with. So you only add 1/4 cup of ketchup at the end. Soooo glad I caught that before I doused the pork in a waterfall of tomato goo.
• The recipe calls for red cabbage. Notice they try to dress up the cabbage by calling it “tangy.” I’m not buying it. Roger and I skipped it altogether.
• As far as “crusty rolls” go, Publix didn’t have a great selection. So I went with some fancy sesame-covered hamburger buns. And you know what? It was still good and I didn’t have to slice open any rolls.

I recommend this recipe, because it really is very easy. Actually, I recommend the Everyday Food magazine, book, and website. Their recipes are perfect for cooking during the week, because of several reasons:

• You can find the ingredients at Publix. Don’t get me wrong – I love going to Harry’s just as much as anyone else (who knew there were that many kinds of mushrooms?). But I don’t have time to peruse 50 varieties of cheese on a Tuesday night.
• The ingredients are inexpensive and there’s not many of them. These recipes don’t require you to spend more than you would going out to dinner. I think the fanciest thing I’ve used is cashews (although I’m tackling eggplant later this week – details to come).
• You don’t have to be a chef to figure out the recipe. The steps are easy: cut, chop, saute, blend. This is not a Food Network show after all – it’s my kitchen. I don’t have time to look up hoighty-toighty cooking terms only to find out they mean “chop delicately.”
• Pictures are included. Not sure if your dish came out right? Compare it to the picture in the book. Done!

Sure, it’s fun to try something fancy every once in a while, but I save that stuff for weekends. That way if I screw it up, Roger and I can go out to eat instead. See “spinach lasagna” for reference – that’s a meal that did NOT turn out well. Ugh, it was so bad I wasn’t sure what was wrong – my cooking or the recipe itself!

Recipe and source for the picture (I was running to choir practice so I didn’t have time to take a picture from my own kitchen)

But then the weather struck. Friday night and early Saturday morning it stormed! The wind blew, thunder rolled, and lightning lit up the sky like a fireworks show. You may not know much about golf, but golfers tend to stay in if there’s lightning – seeing how golf clubs are essentially mini lightning rods you hold in your hand.

But all across Wilmer 20 Ecuador team members and their loved ones were praying the storm away. And at the 10:00 am start time for the tournament, the storm left. Then to spice it up, the sun showed up. We took it as a sign that God wanted some golf to be played!

Roger and I signed up to set up the sponsor signs, so we grabbed a golf cart and headed out to the back 9. It was nice driving around and setting up the signs, because no players had made it to the back of the course yet. It was actually kind of peaceful. We even saw a baby turtle sunning at a tee box – so cute!

When we got back to the club house, golf teams were already signing in. We hung out at the first tee to see the teams get started and then greeted them again when they rounded the corner to hit the back 9. Everyone had a great time, and the weather stayed beautiful the entire day. The tournament was a success!

More pictures from the golf tournament.

The recipe is from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food: Great Food Fast. My friend Heather gave me the book, and I’ve already made a few recipes from it. Don’t let Martha scare you, because the recipes in this book are not complicated. And they use ingredients you can find at Publix. Not that I don’t love going to Harry’s but I don’t have time (or money!) for that every week.

The recipe called for Boston lettuce leaves to make the meal into lettuce wraps. I love lettuce wraps so I did just that. I made some brown rice on the side just in case the lettuce didn’t work out. Both were great.

I’m looking forward to these left overs!

Back at home, Amelia has found a new favorite spot to chill out. Since Roger cleaned up the office, the kitty has decided she needs to be in that room all the time. She poked around in there before the great cleanup, but now she has room to frolic if she chooses. However, she chooses to be lazy. I can’t really blame her.

To balance her time in Roger’s office, Amelia also tries to infiltrate the guest bedroom. Normally this is not a problem, but I’ve had the room covered in scrapbook materials for two weeks while I worked on my wedding album. And it’s finally finished! I’m still keeping the room off limits to Amelia though – just because I can.

One day they taught us the song “My Old Man.” They told us the words were:

My old man’s a sailor, what do you think about that?
He wears a sailor’s collar, he wears a sailor’s hat.
He wears a sailor’s raincoat, he wears a sailor’s shoes,
and every Saturday evening he reads the sailor’s news.
And someday,
if I can,
I’m gonna be a sailor, the same as my old man.

Then they said we were supposed to substitute our own father’s occupation for the word “sailor.” Well I wasn’t sure what my dad’s title was. I guess I wasn’t the only one because the teacher told us we could ask our dads about it when we got home, and we’d sing the song again tomorrow.

So I headed off home, and do you know what my dad’s title is? SYSTEMS ANALYST. When I told him about the song, he started cracking up. So I tried all night to fit the 5-syllable word where the simple-and-easy “sailor” was before. But hey, I loved a challenge.

I mastered that song and I never forgot my dad’s job title. I’m sure I surprised many an elementary teacher later when they asked, “And what does your father do for a living?” And my 8-year-old face lit up and rattled off, “He’s a systems analyst!” Yeah, take THAT Miss Teacher! Just don’t ask me to spell it.

On a sidenote, I was trying to find the words to “My Old Man” online because I couldn’t remember every line. And I came across a hilarious Smothers Brothers routine. It’s a fitting find, because I used to watch the Smothers Brothers show with my parents. I loved Tom Smothers as the yo-yo man.

What’s your dad’s job title? Or your mom’s? You could change the song to “My Old Lady.” Although I guess that would mean your wife. Well, whatever. Can you top systems analyst?

I’ve been printing and organizing photos for a while, and today I went through several boxes and bins of wedding mementos. I separated everything into piles based on the sections that will be in the album. It was fun reading through all the cards we received. Our friends and family wrote so many sweet notes of encouragement, and I couldn’t help but smiling as I read through them all.

But finally it was time to actually start putting the pages together. I managed to get the title page and engagement pages done before Roger and I headed off to our Valentine’s Day dinner.

I plan to work on the album tomorrow afternoon while Roger reads for his Disciple class. Maybe I’ll even finish it by the end of the day. Eh, let’s not talk crazy.

Our office was really more of a dungeon, and after picking up a laptop a few months ago I hadn’t really used the room for much more than throwing crap into it which didn’t belong elsewhere. The closet was a dumpster of large bins filled to the brim with random wires, parts, and adapters – many dating back 8 or so years.

The project started with putting out 4 boxes to categorize my wires into – computer wires, video wires, audio wires, and power wires. Only after I sorted through 2 large bins and a duffle bag did I really have an understanding of what wires I actually had. After that I went back through these boxes, tied up the wires with zip ties, and threw outdated cables and cables which I had numerous duplicates of into a donation box.

After a trip to Staples to pick up some medium and small sized organization boxes I went to the task of organizing all the little things in my office – CDs, DVDs, memory cards, batteries, gameboy games, adapters, screws, etc. etc. In the end I ended up with 6 large drawers organized into Media, Devices and Accessories, Gaming, Computer, Video, and Audio – these held all the wires I decided to keep as well as all their related adapters.

It’s only once you’ve organized all your stuff that you realize how many duplicates you have, or how much stuff that you are holding onto that is totally useless or obsolete. In my case I managed to come up with quite an impressive list of things to donate or toss, including:

• 12 mice (almost all PS2 mice)
• 5 hard drives (who knows what is on these, finding out next week)
• 3 parallel port cables (despite not owning any parallel printers)
• 6 video cards, 2 modems, and 2 coaxial network cards

Once it was all said and done I ended up with 2 construction sized black trash bags of trash, 1 medium box to donate, 1 medium box of stuff to give to others, an all-in-one printer to toss, and a monitor to donate. I can only hope that I really don’t end up needing that 800mhz Pentium 3 I threw out, or the 48mb of EDO RAM.

Here are a few pics before:

Here are a few pics after:

Something tells me the hard part going forward will be not trashing it back up again, but I figure I have quite a long way to go for that to happen, and there’s no time to get started like the present

These signs will line the golf course during the tournament. The top half will include the designs you see here and the bottom half will have the sponsor’s name.  It’s nice to put my professional skills towards something meaningful (not that documenting the import process for a risk management information system isn’t totally worthwhile).

If you know anyone who would like to sponsor or play in the tournament, let me or Roger know. A list of all sponsors will be handed out at the event, and sponsors who donate at least $100 will have a sign. To play, it’s $200 per 4-person team (so $50 per person). The tournament is March 28 at Azalea City in Mobile, AL. All money raised goes directly to the Ecuador mission to cover travel and lodging costs, supplies, and materials.

Hunter and Michelle let us stay with them while we were in town, so we got to spend quality time with their son Aiden. He’s now 2 and he’s a lot of fun. Roger snapped this shot of him while we were all playing outside. Isn’t he cute?

Saturday night a group of us went to Chelsea’s for dinner. This was mine and Roger’s first time at the new Chelsea’s, and we were impressed. The old one was a great place to see bands, but eating dinner there usually proved a little difficult. The new place has a lot more room, and the food was as good as ever.

We had so much fun with everyone. It makes me miss Baton Rouge even more. I guess we’ll have to start going back more often! The rest of our pictures from the trip are posted to our photo site.

This weekend Roger and I are headed off on a Gulf Coast road trip adventure! We start our journey Thursday night where we’ll spend the night at my folks’ just in time to celebrate Mom’s birthday a few days late. Then we’re off Friday morning to Baton Rouge to watch our good buddy Caleb marry his lady. Sunday morning we’ll drive the 3 hours back to Wilmer for a meeting with the Ecuador mission team. (We’re going on a mission trip to Ecuador in June.) Afterwards, it’s back to home sweet home Marietta.

Oh it’s so easy to look back now and say “what was I thinking?” But it’s a different story when you’re on the actual date. Wouldn’t it have been great to have a friend tell you back then that what you’re doing is against the rules of dating? OK, so you probably wouldn’t have listened (I know I wouldn’t). I’m happily married now, but I didn’t get there without breaking a few of the rules and learning some hard, seemingly obvious lessons.

So in the spirit of sharing, here are the rules we came up with today. These are just suggestions and like most things do not apply to all situations.

And no, these rules are not all from my own experience.

Suggested Rules of Dating

• Never give out your personal information (home address, work place, etc) unless you enjoy unexpected visitors.
• Pass on dinner for the first date and go with something simple like a cup of coffee. You don’t want to commit yourself to a few hours with someone until you know you can stand a few hours with them.
• Ladies, guys don’t talk about weddings for fun. If he brings up a wedding, and you have no interest in marrying him, it’s time to move on.
• Ladies, it’s cool you have a platonic single guy friend. But guess what – guys don’t buy that (unless the friend is super, never-gonna-be-interested-in-women gay). Be prepared for jealousy. But it’s fair. After all, would you want your guy hanging out with any single girl whatsoever? Be honest now.
• Guys, if a girl suggests an expensive restaurant on the first date, watch out. She’s either looking for a free meal or she’s just high maintenance.
• Don’t meet people on My Space.
• Don’t get someone’s phone number while you’re on a date with another person.
• Don’t date people from work. Breakups are awkward. Or if it goes well, you’ll find that you can’t separate life from work. I guess if you hate your job and you’re looking to move on anyway, then date away!
• Be cautious about dating people at church. Again, breakups can get awkward. And church shopping is no fun.
• Use discretion when evaluating emails from online dating sites. If the person writes, “your purty. lets hook up,” then you probably need to pass.
• If the person is not over the ex then don’t get involved. So how do you know if the person is still hung up on the ex? Tell-tale signs include:
  • The ex calls the person to say they miss them, and then the person tells you the ex called.
  • The person talks incessantly about their ex.
  • The person tells you they are not over their ex.
  • You find pictures or small photo albums of the ex in the person’s car, house, etc.
• Do not date people who are “not fully divorced yet.” Uh, yeah, that means they’re still married. “Separated” doesn’t count. Those peeps are married too! You don’t want the rage of a jealous spouse ruining your day. Can you say the Tyra show?

Feel free to add more suggestions in the comments. I know there are tons of lessons to be learned. Maybe my next post should be about dates from Hell. Those are always fun to talk about once you’ve survived!

We only got to try one kind of Heineken, but it was included in the price of admission so no complaints here. We learned that Heineken is made from water, hops, barley, and Heineken “A” yeast. The room where they mix the mash smelled pretty bad (in my opinion), but the resulting beer is good. It’s actually better than the Heineken we get here at home. Not sure how that happens.

We learned about the Heineken family, who are well known for their humanitarian efforts. Heineken was one of the first companies to offer their employees a pension, and at one point when the economy was particularly bad, they offered early retirement in lieu of lay offs.

They also designed the “Wobo” bottle which could be recycled to build houses. The bottles were designed with flat sides and ends that fit together, so people could build walls out of them. Of course, the walls were made of green glass so I don’t know how well that works for a house. But then again, it could be perfect for a college frat house…

After the Heineken museum, we went to the Albert Cuyp Market. It’s basically a farmers market mixed with clothing stores. You could buy anything from fresh seafood, cheese, chocolate, or flowers to boots, purses, scarves, jeans, or formal evening dresses. The tourist websites describe it as a “general market.” No kidding. I considered it a lovely place since they sold flowers in the dead of winter.

Continuing our touristy actions, we went to the Rijksmuseum. This was our second time through, and it was just as great. It’s just a really neat museum, and I recommend checking it out if you ever have the chance. They have paintings, Delftware, silver, and all sorts of random historical items. It’s a great way to learn about The Netherlands’ history and see some pretty incredible (and old!) stuff.

The Rijksmuseum is located near Museumplein (a big square that’s home to Rijksmuseum and Van Gough Museum). At the edge of this square is the ultimate in tourist attractions and photo opps – the Iamsterdam sign. If you’re taking your picture with this sign, you are most certainly not from Amsterdam. So naturally we asked Adam to take a picture of us with the sign, and then we herded him to the sign for a picture of himself. I used my favorite Mom line of “you’ll be happy later that I begged you to do this.”

Adam had to put up with additional Roger and Rachel antics at Museumplein too. But after all, would you have handled this any differently? I’m looking at you, Kevin. I mean, the ice cream was just asking me to be silly. And so I obliged. Because I’m sweet. And I was too cold to think straight or consider my actions.

To balance out our time spent in a cultural institution, we hung out in the Red Light District. Here we experienced a few oddities – swans hanging out in a canal (yes, you read that right – SWANS, as in the huge white birds), the granny window section (what the?), a Chinese New Year parade complete with enough firecrackers I thought we were under gunfire, and a new understanding of the dangers of weed.

Wouldn’t the first two problems listed on this book ensure the third problem would not happen? That was at the Hemp Museum Gallery, which was actually really cool. Aside from the weed references, they also had images of how hemp was used in shipping and other areas of industry all over the world. It was fascinating to see all the ways hemp could be used. It’s more versatile than cotton!

The Chinese New Year parade was hosted by a huge Chinese restaurant in the area. They had dragons and loud drums, and they marched through the streets. When they ended at the restaurant, they gathered in a circle and played the drums for a long time. Then they eventually set off the firecrackers. This happened several times while we were there, but I never got used to how loud the firecrackers were. The sound reverberates off the buildings. It’s unsettling, but maybe I’ve just seen too many gangster movies.

In the Red Light District we found a bar and coffeeshop called Hunter’s. And since we know a particularly awesome Hunter from Baton Rouge, we figured the place had a good chance of being cool. We were right. Other than the bathroom being super tiny (but clean at least!), the bar was a cool place.

We saw several odd things while walking around the city, including a South Carolina flag hanging from a hotel and this nifty fry guy statue hanging out in a store front.

The fry guy is representing Amsterdam by illustrating the cone of fries they love to eat. The fries in Amsterdam are ridiculously good. They’re a must if you ever go. The only downfall is they eat fries with mayonnaise. Ick. I passed on the mayo myself.

Speaking of fries, we ate at the McDonalds at Schipol Airport while waiting for our flight. They don’t really have breakfast like we do, so at 8:00 am we were eating the following: Rachel – the worst croissant I’ve ever had and some of Roger’s fries; Roger – Quarterpounder (what happened to the metric system?); Adam – a “Big and Tasty” which was apparently a burger with gouda cheese. Hrm. They also served “McKrokets” which I thought was hysterical.

On the up side, Schipol is one of the most beautiful and efficient airports I’ve ever traveled through. It was decorated really nicely for the holidays. This picture is from the lounge we waited in, and it’s only a hint of how the rest of the airport looked.

After our last trip, Roger dreamed about Amsterdam nearly every night. And they were frustrating dreams where he was with a bunch of friends, but they don’t realize they’re in Amsterdam until the last day. So I asked him if he is still having dreams about Amsterdam, and he said he is but they have more closure. He now always knows he’s in Amsterdam so the dream is much more satisfying.

So does this make Amsterdam a dreamy place? Oh yeah, I went there. I made that corny joke. And now I’m leaving you with it. To ponder it. All day. Now, who wants to go to Amsterdam? I’ve heard it’s a cool place.

So tonight I tried a new recipe for a squash and rice casserole. You can use yellow squash, zucchini, or both. I stuck with the green stuff. It turned out pretty good, and it was easy to make. Maybe one day I’ll try something with Brussels sprouts. But they’re not all that appealing . . . even as an adult.

Keep reading for pictures of the casserole.

We got back from our trip Monday, and I haven’t had a free moment since then to sit down and write a blog post. And since our hotel charged $5/hr for internet, I decided not to blog while on the trip either. So here’s the first part of our trip in a nutshell (for all your squirrel fans out there).

First things first (and YES, I have to do this) – thank you Evan for text messaging me the Peach Bowl score. I seriously worried you got the score backwards until I could get home and look it up for myself at ESPN. Geaux tigers! But moving on . . .

We arrived in Amsterdam at 7:30 New Year’s morning. Here’s Adam and me at Schipol airport relieved to be off the plane and ready to start our adventure. During the short train ride to Centraal Station, we were excited to see snow on the ground! But that’s the last of it we saw for the entire trip. Ahh well.

When we stepped off the train we were greeted by partiers still walking around with beer, tons of red fireworks paper, and piles of trash everywhere. It was eerily similar to every New Orleans morning in the Quarter but fortunately without the urine-in-the-gutters smell. But by the end of the day, most of the trash was history and the city’s holiday decorations could take center stage.

This was my first time traveling somewhere besides my hometown during the holidays, and I definitely recommend it. It’s cool to see another city’s lights and decorations. These lights are at Leidseplein, above the Irish pub and restaurant.

There was also an ice skating rink surrounded by Sinterklaas statues (more on that later) and holiday vendors selling things like chocolate-covered waffles (good grief they’re good!), apple tarts, and more. It was like a fair but without the rides, farm animals, and gigantic squashes. A few more pictures of the decorations at Leidseplein:

Everywhere we looked we were greeted by Santa Claus Sinterklaas statues. I’m convinced some of the statues are just Santas the Dutch ordered and then sneakily painted green gloves on. Although I have to admit I’ve never seen these types of Santas here in the states, so my theory could be woefully wrong.

One place we missed last time we were in Amsterdam was Hard Rock Cafe. It’s near Leidseplein in a square where you can place chess on a large board painted on the ground, with pieces that stand about knee high. The square is also decorated with Christmas light chess pieces.

We ate there one night, and it’s kind of odd. You’d never know you were anywhere besides America from inside that place. Even the music they play is the same as all the other Hard Rocks. I had macaroni and cheese for goodness sake!

But it was good and a fun place. It’s right next to a canal, so the view is nice. I also noticed one of the waiters liked to sing to the music as he walked by. Nothing like hearing American rock with a Dutch accent. Very cute.

Did you hear that? It was Roger telling me to wrap it up already. If he ever buys a wrap-it-up light, there will be a war at our house. (If you don’t know what that means, ask me later.) Part 2 coming soon – Heineken brewery, Albert Cyup Market, Hemp Museum Gallery, and more!

Also, all of our pictures are on our photo site where you can download or print full-size images of our beautiful faces.

Amelia as the Sphinx.

Ferocity in full force.

Kitty ponders the meaning of life.

Talk to the paw.

Two more for good measure.

And finally a short movie of Amelia being . . . herself.

Still haven’t had enough? There’s more on our photo site.

More pictures from our family Christmas.

Me: Quick! Get the camera . . . then spray her with the water.

Straight from Iraq to Heather, courtesy of Dan. If you want to send Dan cool stuff, let me know and I’ll send you his address.

The trees are apparently shy, because they haven’t sprouted yet.

More pictures of the plant progress . . .

Run, run as fast as you can
You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man.

I decided to try making gingerbread man cookies, and they were surprisingly easy to make. I’d never worked with gingerbread before, and the dough proved to be the greatest test for my mixer so far. It actually slowed down when trying to mix in the flour. Talk about some thick dough!

By the time the cookies were done I was covered in flour and smelled like molasses. But the tiny, tasty men were worth the effort!

Read on for more pictures.

Here are some pics from my cookie making adventure. There are more pictures on our photo site (if you haven’t had enough already!).

The recipe is from Betty Crocker: Gingerbread Cutouts