Thoughtful Thursday: A Little List of Questions

Hello; I'm alive! Yes, it has been a while--about a month, actually. I don't have a real reason for not posting lately except for that I've been spending time with my fabulous husband and have fallen off the blog wagon. And also we've been sucked into new TV shows like Downton Abbey(!) and Top Gear (U.K.). But, here I am.

Claudia over at Lashes & Beard tagged me in a little post of hers recently that asked me to fill out some questions about myself. Then, I'm supposed to tag other bloggers and ask them to complete a new set of questions that I create. Feel free to post your answers down in the comments, too! I'd love to see them.

Who would be the first person you'd thank in your Academy Award acceptance speech? Probably my family for supporting me. Sure, it's unoriginal. But really, the support of others is something that I really value, so I'd want to give them the credit.

What's your favorite kitchen utensil (and, of course, why)? I'm gonna change this question from kitchen utensil to kitchen "item." I am completely over the moon with my Pyrex 9x13 glass baking dish. Sounds nerdy, but I cook everything in that thing--from asparagus to brownies to chicken to fish to casserole to potatoes. It's brilliant.


Would you rather be able to only shop at Goodwill, and get everything for free - or - shop only at Neiman Marcus and pay 50% of the ticket price? This is a tricky question because while it might seem like a better deal to pick Goodwill and get a load of free goodies (which are sometimes really fabulous finds), oftentimes there's also a bunch of crappy stuff mixed in that shouldn't even be resold to begin with. But of course, NM is really overpriced. I probably couldn't be prompted to buy a single item there at just 50% off. I guess it depends on my current financial situation, which likely means I'd end up going with Goodwill.

What religion or belief system do you most closely identify with? Jesusology

How old were you, and under what circumstances, did you break your first bone? I've never broken a bone, just sprained one thing or another over the years. I remember being in middle school and having crutches at school because I sprained my ankle doing something ridiculous--what it was, I don't remember. The great thing about that was you had permission to leave each class 5 minutes early to avoid the mad "passing time" rush. And it just made me feel cool, for once. (Middle school is rough that way.)

Is there a holiday you don't like? No! All holidays are holidays for a reason. I guess I sort of dislike the "holidays" that still require me to work, though. And of course my favorite is Christmas, since you asked.

Describe the best kiss you've ever had: See below.

When you go to your favorite restaurant, what do you usually order? I don't have a favorite restaurant, but sometimes DR & I go to the Black Forest Steakhouse for special occasions. It's a German steakhouse so schnitzel is on the menu, which I like because a good portion of my heritage is German. We haven't been in quite a while, but I would always get the Schnitzel Champignon: a breaded chicken cutlet covered in sauteed mushrooms and Bearnaise sauce, served with red cabbage and garlic mashed potatoes. Mmmm.

Why do you blog? I started this particular blog as a part of my leaning plan at work--to force myself into a disciplined writing routine and practice the art. But I tend to like them in general because you're able to interact with new people, communicate a lot of things quickly and easily, and show others a side of yourself that they don't normally see.

Where were you the last time you got some great news (and for Pete's sake, what was so great about it)? This is sad, but I don't really remember the last time I got "great" news. I think it's pretty great when I plan a friend date, or eat something good for dinner, or get to sub and teach my favorite Zumba class--the simple things in life. But, something that sticks out is when my sister-in-law announced she was having a baby girl (due in 3 weeks!) last summer. We are so excited to meet her; I can't wait to have a baby niece. :-)

If you could pick anyone to be the President of the United States, dead or alive, who would you pick? This is tough, but yes, I'll go with Jesus. I can't see anything about that ending badly for anyone. Although I'm sure people would still complain.

As far as tagging goes, I tag all two (not including Claudia) of my followers: this means you, Leigh and Anne. I'll also tag Justin (since he is guilty of not blogging lately, too). As I said, others are free to answer these questions in the comments or your own blog. I just don't know who else reads this bad boy.

My 11 Questions for You:
1. How many Facebook friends do you have? And how many of those people have you talked to in the last year?
2. Besides work, what do you spend most of your time doing?
3. What is your favorite thing to cook? If you don't cook, what is your favorite thing to eat?
4. Harry Potter or Twilight?
5. What is the latest thing you pinned on Pinterest?
6. To Tweet or not to Tweet?
7. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
8. What is your favorite book and why?
9. Mac of PC? And, why?
10. What's your best childhood memory?
11. If you had to lose a body part (in battle or because of some sad illness), which would be the one to go?

Valentine's Day: A Love Post

In honor of Valentine's Day (or single's awareness day--whichever you prefer), I thought I'd write a little love post. One about my husband and I--our little love story. He will hereafter be referred to as DR.

Excuse the mush that will ensue, but if you can't be sappy on Valentine's Day, when can you?

When I was nearing the end of college, I decided to attend a job fair that was hosted by the school. As an English major, I didn't really fit in with the type of companies that had set up their booths--these were financial companies, customer service groups, and big corporations like Boeing. I wandered over to a random booth of a local company I'd never heard of and attempted to make small talk with the nice gentleman there. He was friendly, but this was a software company and didn't seem to have any openings that matched my skill set.

Long story short, I interviewed there (the whole time thinking I would never get the job) and was offered a position by the man from the booth who would become my boss. Sick of my job as a grocery cashier, I accepted the offer but assumed that I would only work there a few months and would keep my plan to move back to Seattle that summer. Of course, that didn't happen.

I worked part-time for several months while I finished up classes. One afternoon, I came to work only to realize that everyone in my department was missing. I sat awkwardly at my computer for a few minutes, but eventually I learned that everyone was in a meeting to welcome our boss back from his trip to India. I looked for an open seat but had to walk all the way around to the other side of the room to get there. When I sat down and looked around, I couldn't help but notice that an extremely cute boy was looking at me. After that, we began chatting and made plans to play tennis (one of our favorite past times). After a few of those, we met for drinks and our friendship began to grow.

I won't lie and say that he was totally committed to the idea right away; I had to do my fair share of pursuing. But at various points, so did he. Relationships are not always easy, and many times they aren't meant to be. We had to fight for each other, and by God's grace, it all worked out.

DR proposed in December of 2010, after around 2.5 years of dating. We had been preparing for that moment by taking pre-engagement classes at our church, and so it wasn't a big surprise. (But I secretly think everyone else was expecting us to wait longer than that.) He called me one day while I was at work and said he was downtown for an errand and asked if I wanted to get lunch. He picked me up and we started driving down the road in a strange direction, so I asked where we were going. "You'll see," he said.

Eventually, we pulled on to a little road and stopped in a small parking lot. We walked out to the edge of the cliff, which revealed a beautiful view of the bay and surrounding landscape. "I got you a present," he said. I was excited and expecting him to pull out some kind of treat from his pockets, but instead he presented a box! Inside the box was the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. "I want to marry you ..." he started, but I'm pretty sure that I cut him off with my immediate screaming and grabbing of the ring. I took the rest of the day off, and we spent our time calling family and friends and starting to make plans.

DR and I were married on 9/3/11 in front of 150 family and friends. Life has never been better, and we grow more in love and friendship each day. He is smart, funny, goofy, and incredibly thoughtful. I am so thankful to have found my perfect match! :-)

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Thoughtful Thursday: Hello Somebody

We've long heard that it's better to give than to receive, and what more? It's better for organizations to give their profits away than to keep them.

Toms is a great example of this. They've become a staple in the Christian "hipster" scene, as many beanie- and aviator-wearing kids can be seen rocking them with skinny jeans. And yes, there's been a recent dialogue about the motivation behind consumer compassion. But the thought behind the purchase aside, as long as a company hasn't changed their mission (in Toms' case, this mission means delivering a pair of shoes to a child in an underdeveloped country when you buy a pair for yourself), then that's all that matters.

Enter Hello Somebody. While it's no surprise that I am guilty of jumping on various cultural bandwagons, I still get excited when donations and support are given to good causes. Hello Somebody is a movement that began in 2009 when the cofounders were on a mission trip to Honduras. While serving there, they encountered many children who were faced with intense poverty and were without clean water or education. These individuals were affected, began gaining sponsors to aid in their cause, and HS was born.

According to the website, "Hello Somebody exists to feed and educate children, by providing an avenue of knowledge, in order to break the cycle of poverty and hunger within their generation." By purchasing a watch, you help provide the necessary funds to sponsor 100 boys from the streets of Rwanda with vocational and educational opportunities, along with two solid meals a day. Your watch may also do other things, like helping provide the funds to build wells for clean water in Guatemala.

This week I received my very own watch, which was a belated Christmas gift from my brother. Thanks, little bro!

Consider ordering your own, or giving a little love to Hello Somebody today!

Wellness Wednesday: Forks Over Knives (or, The Story behind My Meatlessness)

Since downgrading our Netflix account from 2 DVDs out a time + Instant Streaming to only streaming, we've had to be flexible with our entertainment options. This is probably because Netflix doesn't offer an infinite amount of movies or TV we've actually heard of, or shows we haven't already exhausted (you can watch only so many episodes of Felicity, Battlestar Galactica, How I Met Your Mother, etc.). So, we've gone hipster and have been spending a lot of time watching documentaries about social issues. Netflix streaming does offer some gems in this department, including The Business of Being Born (I will NOT be delivering my baby at a hospital), Freakanomics, and an especially adorable one about dogs. This genre introduced us to one of our favorite recent views: Forks Over Knives.

FOK encourages viewers to remove all animal-based products and switch to a whole plant-based diet. This means going Vegan and getting rid of all meat, dairy, and eggs. Yes, even fish. In a nutshell, the film claims that "most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods." The stories of several individuals who were diagnosed with serious illness (including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and many types of cancer) are presented, and they all decide to make this dietary change in lieu of other treatment. In what seems like the doing of one Harry Houdini, presto! After giving up animal products, these folks are all now suddenly disease free. It's hard to not be compelled by that kind of evidence.

I've always been skeptical about leaving meat and dairy out of my diet because, ignoring the fact that I've suffered from an uncomfortable dairy allergy since I was a baby, chicken and cheese and chocolate are delicious! I have also glommed onto the idea that humans are meant to be carnivorous--we have those Inciser teeth for a reason, after all. And, people have been eating meat since before Bible times, so it must be the right thing to do. Although, if you want to get technical, it can be argued that before the fall, in God's perfect will, man was intended to be Vegan--to eat plants (see Gen 1:29).

All of this aside, the message of this film is pretty astounding. The facts are based on results accumulated from various studies, including the well-known China Study and the shift in communities when Nazi soldiers confiscated the people's livestock for themselves. The statistics here show that the fatal diseases present in meat-eating persons are, across the board, nearly nonexistent in plant-eating ones. Other facts are offered to show the shift in the frequency of diseases when a community is without meat vs. when it is plentiful.

Even if you're not sold on the idea, I'd really recommend that everyone watch this film. It provides a lot of  thought-provoking, scientifically based information about health and American eating habits. Once you decide to go for it, though, the problem becomes less about being convinced and more about being disciplined. That's where we're at right now--we've fallen off the wagon a few times over the past couple weeks (blasted cheesesteaks!), but we still get back on. Our tummies feel much better when plants and grains are at the forefront.

Tasty Tuesday: Philly Boys Cheesesteaks

As I've mentioned before, we're trying to avoid meat these days. But, sometimes you have to break your own rules--especially for something as important and delicious as sandwiches (fun fact: sandwiches are one of my top three favorite foods). Management at my company persuaded a popular Seattle-based food truck to make the two hour drive up north for a very special occasion: lunch.

Lucky for me, my wonderful (& hungry) husband grabbed a place in line before I even left my desk. If he hadn't, who knows how long we would've been standing outside! Information was leaked to the local paper, who then advertised that the Philly Boys were going to be in town today. Naturally, others wanted a taste of the goods and so what was supposed to be a little company lunch turned into a city-wide spectacle. We waited nearly an hour and a half in the rain, wind, & cold with the smell of grilled onions and cheeze wiz taunting our senses. My husband even had to refill the meter twice! But, the Phillies were worth the wait. And as it turns out, I preferred the white American cheese to that cheeze wiz (even though the wiz is supposed to be more east-coast authentic).

Special thanks to my coworker Liz for allowing me to photograph part of her sandwich. I had forgotten to take a picture of my own because I was too concerned with stuffing it into my face as fast as possible. Yum.

Read more about today's cheesesteak madness here.

Manic Monday: Posting Pictures of Kittens Doesn't Make You a Crazy Cat Person

No, having an appreciation for photos or Youtube videos of cute kittens doesn't necessarily make you a crazy cat lady/man. It might make you seem a bit silly or annoying to people who are allergic or who like dogs better, but no one cares about them. I don't even own a cat (yet ...) and I still find these things to be especially fulfilling.

Enclosed is one of my favorite videos, which I originally saw on Tosh.0 and probably revisit about once a month. It's a gem.

And, to further fill your cuteness quota for the day, enjoy some of the cutest kitten pictures this side of Google images:

You're welcome.

Tasty Tuesday: Tofu Rancheros

As a new proponent of meatless living, I've been challenging myself to try out imaginative recipes for dinner. Last week we picked up a slab of tofu, but I couldn't figure out what to do with it. A friend at work suggested that I try one of her favorites: Tofu Rancheros.

Ingredients:
oil (I used grapeseed), tofu, black beans, garlic, corn, salsa, tortillas, avocado, and grated cheese (optional)

Directions:
Scramble the tofu in oil and add 1 clove of chopped garlic. Add cooked black beans and salsa. Mix together and spread onto warm tortillas. I kept the corn on the side, but it can also be added into the tofu mixture. Top tortillas with cheese (if desired), avocado, and eat!

We had this last night, and overall, the flavor turned out pretty well. Next time I'll try cubing the tofu and frying it to improve the texture a bit. Even my husband, who usually hates tofu, was able to stomach this one. Progress!