Tyler + Kathryn=Love Laughter and Lots of Homework

Ultrasounds and New Recliner

2012-01-15T16:52:00.000-08:00

Since I get free ultrasounds every month I thought I'd post the latest ones. You can see that she has plumped up since December!

December ultrasound: her little hand

December ultrasound: part of her little face

January ultrasound: her plump little cheeks, nose, and lips

We got a leather rocker recliner from Costco. It's smaller and I don't feel like it's eating me.

I will be spending a lot of time in this chair once the baby gets here.

30 Weeks

2012-01-10T17:43:00.000-08:00

It seems like baby girl is going to be here so soon now that we've hit the 30 week mark. We are getting really excited to meet her. She is very active and I can distinctly feel her head, bum, and feet as she stretches out. She really favors my right side and I always start laughing when she tickles my ribs.

We (baby and I) are taking part in two studies at U.W. for pregnant women. The first one I have gotten a free ultrasound every month thanks to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. They are trying to set a new international standard for babies in utero. So each month healthy pregnant women around the world and I get our bellies and babies measured. The last study was done in 1970 with white women in California. So it's definitely time for an update.

The second study is one that is trying to figure out how to help women with gestational diabetes. I apparently have very good glucose levels so I am part of the control group. Plus they want to see how my DNA responds differently from the DNA of women with gestational diabetes. This one they only see me twice, I go in at 7 am they feed me breakfast and take some blood samples over 4 hours. In the mean time I get my own room which is perfect for getting homework done. Then they feed me lunch (the food is actually really good, I had some really good salmon on Tuesday). On top of that they pay me for my blood samples and the Dr.s are really nice and do everything they can to make sure I am comfortable and happy.

Other than that we are waiting for January 30th to find out if and where Tyler gets into an Oral Surgery residency. I am busy with school and trying to get things ready for when the baby arrives. I am practicing my hypnobirthing and am really excited to have this baby naturally without fear or pain. That is the latest!

30 weeks!

Leavenworth

2012-01-08T15:01:00.000-08:00

We celebrated our 4th year anniversary by going to Leavenworth with my parents. Tyler had never been to Leavenworth and I have only been in the summer time, so it was fun to go the place all decked out with Christmas lights! It was nice to walk around the little shops, relax, and eat some yummy German food.

Crafts and Family

2012-01-06T21:19:00.000-08:00

So I am the worst at taking pictures and if I don't have pictures then I don't feel like blogging. We did take a few over Christmas break so you can see a little bit of what we've been up to. Here is some of the stuff we did:

Stayed with Tyler's parents for the first part of our break. We were able to help his mom make fossils with her students. It was a lot of fun, and I wish I could go help out more often.
Went to a Mindy Gledhill concert and enjoyed some great music
Cooked and ate a lot of delicious food. Tyler even made Milanesa's for everyone, it was such a treat!
Did a lot of shopping for our baby girl
Had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas and New Years with my parents
Enjoyed having dinner and playing games with my brother's family
My mom helped me make some wraps to carry the baby. They are similar to Moby Wraps (so much cheaper than buying them)
Went to Leavenworth to celebrate our 4th anniversary. My parents took us out to a real German dinner while we were there. Plus it was fun to see all of the Christmas lights.
I got to see a lot of friends from high school, it's always fun to catch up!
Was introduced to Hypnobirthing by a friend of mine, bought the book and now I'm really excited to deliver this baby!
We were totally pampered by both of our families, and feel so loved and blessed!
Ate at Bruchi's. Seattle has awesome food, but sometimes I miss my Bruchi's!
Had a lot of fun and we both came home with a cough and cold, but it was worth it!

These aren't the best pictures of me, it was the end of the day and I have some water retention in my face. But you can see that the wraps turned out super cute!

I used a polar bear to be my pretend baby

I'm sure the wrap will look more normal when I'm no longer pregnant

Overall I'm happy with how they turned out and I can't wait to wrap my real baby in it

Playing games with our niece and nephew

Jileesa beat us all!

Scooping out letters to make words

Love these kiddos!

Who Says That?

2011-10-11T13:20:00.000-07:00

Sometimes things are said in this house that leave Tyler or myself scratching our heads. I thought I'd start documenting these moments for future comic relief. I can't promise that these moments will be funny to you, but at least we'll remember the incident for what it was.

Yesterday I did the weekly grocery shopping and purchased some granola. That evening Tyler was looking through the cupboards for something to munch on before hitting the sack. I knew he'd be happy when he spotted the granola because this guy loves granola. He will pour an entire bowl full and eat it as though it is as light as cheerios. I guess I'm just a lightweight because an entire bowl of granola is just too dense for my tummy to handle. My granola has to be sprinkled on things like yogurt, fruit, or oatmeal. That way I still get a nice crunch without the feeling of a brick in my stomach.

Anyways, Tyler found the granola and said, "Why'd you buy granola with weird nuts in it?"
I gave him a quizzical look and asked, "Since when are pecans weird?"
"I like normal nuts, pecans aren't noooorrrmmmaaallll." He said this while using big hand gestures.
I gave him a blank stare..."So, what are normal nuts?"
He started pouring the granola into a bowl, "Peanuts."
I turned around so he didn't see me roll my eyes, he hates it when people roll their eyes. "Well, I know a lot of people that love to eat pecan pie at Thanksgiving every year. I think they are pretty normal."
Tyler sat down and started eating his bowl full of granola. After a few bites he turned to me and said, "Hey this granola is actually pretty good, even if there are weird nuts in it."
I patted his head and said, "I'm glad you like it, weird nuts and all."

How do you eat your granola and are there any nuts that you think are weird?

Baby Booties

2011-09-25T14:12:00.000-07:00

My wonderful Mother-in-law has a cute pattern for knitting baby booties. With her help she got me through some of the knitting lingo I didn't understand. The next thing I knew I had knitted my first baby booty! It's fun to knit baby stuff because it comes together really fast.

This patter is for a 3 month old. I chose white since I don't know the gender yet. I am currently knitting a blue pair and for fun I think I'll do a pink pair as well. Don't be surprised if you have a baby and find a pair of booties on your doorstep ;-)

Satisfying September

2011-09-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

Well I am FINALLY starting to get over the morning sickness. Around week 13 I woke up one morning and realized I had slept through the night without getting sick! When I got up I passed my full length mirror and saw a baby bump! Tyler was pretty excited too, he came home and said, "You are going to be a mamma! You have a little belly!" It was pretty cute.

This past week we took advantage of our summer break. We went to Wyoming with my parents for a little vacation before we both start school next week. I remembered to pack the camera, however I forgot to take any pictures. A couple years ago I went to Wyoming and everything looked the same this time around (except for my baby bump of course). Here are those pictures from last time Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, & Part 4.

Saturday: Was the looong drive over. We left Kennewick at 7:00 AM. We stopped at Costco for gas and a quick lunch, Wheat Montana for dinner, and some potty breaks in between for the pregnant lady. We rolled up to my Grandma's around 10:00 PM.

Sunday: Church was at 8 AM. I am pretty sure I have never gone that early before. We saw my Aunt Jan, Uncle Stan, my cousins Christian, Michael, and Jacob. It was nice to catch up with them. That evening we went to the Bighorn Canyon Overlook, it was really impressive!

Monday: I got to sleep in, it was wonderful. My Mom and Grandma went to a Daughters of Pioneers meeting. They tried to get me to go but I pulled the pregnancy tired card and stayed home instead. The meeting is 3 hours long! I would have never lasted that long listening to someone talk. My parents had brought a bunch of nectarines and peaches so we helped my Grandma can those.

Tuesday: We got up bright and early to go to the Billing's Temple. I knew it would be a long day so I had a big bowl of steel cut oats topped with pecans and bananas. I was feeling good. At the temple I was kneeling and started to feel like I was going to throw up. My first thought was I can't throw up in the temple, I will be the one and only person that has ever thrown up here, I can't be that person! So instead of listening to the words being spoken I focused on not getting sick. The next thing I know I started seeing stars, I leaned over to Tyler to tell him that I was dizzy but everything went white. They next thing I remember was hearing Tyler say my name. I was lying on the ground and Tyler said I was out for a couple minutes. Everyone was really nice to me and helped me up and took me to a first aid room to help me fully recover. My mom said when I passed out a bunch of women next to her immediately said, "Oh she must be pregnant." I guess it's happened to other pregnant women. I think they should put a sign up telling pregnant women not to kneel!

Wednesday: We went to the farm and collected some chicken eggs, vegetables, and played with the dog Angus. Then we helped my Grandma freeze a bunch of corn and set up her new TV since her last one died. We also watched Hello Dolly, that night. I'm not a fan of musicals so I was a little hesitant to watch it. However I must say that Barbara Streisand and Walter Matthua made a pretty entertaining musical, and I may have even enjoyed it!

Thursday: I wasn't feeling too good so while my parents drove around getting errands done I took it easy. The thought of getting in a car driving on a bumpy road was too much for me. My parents picked a bunch of apples and helped my Grandma can some apple juice. My dad made some pretty awesome gf apple crisp all week just for me as well! We also went to the cemetery to visit my Grandpa's grave. Tyler and I walked around to read all the names and see if there are any that would be fitting for out baby. Here are some examples of the names we saw: Vern, Clarence, Ethel, Edna, Ernest, Mabel, Nellie, Elmer, Lester, Cornelius, and Vergie. Needless to say we probably won't be choosing one of them any time soon.

Friday: Was the big trip back home. We took it slow and went through Yellow Stone since Tyler had never been. We stopped at Old Faithful and went through Jackson Hole. We made it to Burly and called it a night.

Saturday: We stopped in at Nampa to visit my Uncle Eric, Aunt Vicki and their kids. We had a really nice lunch with them and Tyler was able to talk dentistry with my uncle. Then we hit the road and made it back to Kennewick.

Sunday: We stayed over at Tyler's parents house in Pasco to catch up with them before heading back to Seattle. It was a nice relaxing day.

Now we are back, and will be starting our final year of school in Seattle before moving onto our next phase of life.

Those who are curious to see the baby bump, here it is!

Oregon and lots of family pictures

2011-08-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

I'm talking about all my cute nephews and nieces that I got to see this past week. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the wedding, beach, or grown ups. Somehow my camera only focused on the sweet little faces of those age 6 and under.

Before I bring out the kiddos I thought I'd show a picture of my cousin Justin and his beautiful bride, Shelby.

Then maybe I'll throw in a comparison picture. Here I am on my wedding day. What are Justin and I both doing? Maybe it runs in the family to throw our hands in the air?

Always good food at my aunt's house! Yum!

I feel like Jeremy is saying, "I have an idea, lets go play instead of sitting/waiting for these people to hurry up!"

At lunch Jeremy showed us how grown up he is, no need to cut up his banana! He chomps it down!

He ate it right up!

Oliver eating breakfast....

Until he got too tired

Jileesa had lots of hugs to give everyone, Amy and I both got sick so we needed them!

Brooklyn being mischievous like normal....

I finally caught Joel sitting down, this kid never seems to run out of energy!

Oliver kept looking for presents in all of the shoes....

If he didn't find any then he'd get someone else to check.

Grandpa, Grandma, and Jilessa enjoying Aunt Sylvia's lovely backyard and food

Mom and daughter love

Ollie, scoping out the yard....

Until he thought dad wasn't close by...

Peek...

A Boo!

Follow the blue line home!

2011-08-26T08:42:00.000-07:00

I got home from a "vacation" yesterday. Have you ever gone on vacation to relax but just end up sick and miserable, wishing you had just stayed home in the first place? I experienced this for the first time in my life this past week.
Last Friday Tyler officially finished his 3rd year of Dental School! He had a crazy busy week so in-between my bouts of morning sickness I packed for 3 separate trips that were coming up. Portland~for my cousin's wedding, Lincoln City~for a family reunion, and Omaha NE~Tyler's oral surgery externship.
Now, don't get me wrong I loved seeing my family and running away with Tyler; but it's not that fun with morning sickness or when you get get a cold on top of that. While everyone was running down to the beach I was searching for ways to not feel nauseous, release all the pressure from congestion in my head that felt like it was going to blow up, and stop the nasty cough I had going on. Not fun for me and not fun for those around me. I'm pretty sure I woke everyone up each night with my hacking and dry heaving. Yuck.
Thursday morning Tyler and I had to get up at 4:30 am and drive to Portland. He got on a plane to Omaha and drove back to Seattle praying the whole way that I wouldn't start puking and wreck the car. He made it to NE and I made it back to WA. However now I just want him back home to nurse me back to health!

B needs to click his heels 3 times and say "there is no place like home," that way A can be happy in his arms!

Ready or Not....

2011-08-07T13:53:00.000-07:00

We are going to be parents around March 21st!!! Tyler is so excited and I am too when I'm not feeling sick All Day Long! If I had known how bad morning sickness can be I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have agreed to go through with this. I'll be 8 weeks on Wednesday and I'm just trying to survive until 12-14, everyone tells me it gets better after that.

I've tried ginger, pressure point wrist bands, vitamin b6, essential oils, and even got some drugs from my Dr. but I'm still getting sick everyday. I really think non-stop nausea is the worst thing in the world. The past three weeks it has taken everything for me just to survive day to day.

I'm going to look into acupuncture next, I've heard that can be quite beneficial. If there are any other tips out there for me shout em out for me to try!

Our little bean at 7 weeks and 1 day

All About Tyler

2011-07-24T21:34:00.000-07:00

Most everyone knows that I love to cook and create in the kitchen. However there are days that I get tired, busy, and just need a break. Last week I asked Tyler if he would cook dinner on Sunday since he's not busy with school/clinic stuff that day. Thankfully he agreed and he made such a wonderful dinner! He's definitely going to be asked to cook more often in this house!

Tyler's oven roast turned out beautiful!

Each bite was so tender, I'm so grateful for all of his hard work!

It was Tyler's Birthday on the 13th so we had to celebrate! He wanted tacos for dinner so I went all out and made corn tortillas, carne asada, and had plenty of avocado, cilantro, fresh salsa, limes, and other veggies to fill them with. For dessert I made him brownies (his all time favorite dessert in the world!) as well as some gf cupcakes for me.

Due to his busy schedule he hasn't had the time to work out as much as he used to. So for his present I got him the Insanity Workout. He's been getting up early everyday to do it and has gotten stronger! I've even given it a try and the workouts are very hard core. I would recommend it to anyone!

He's 29!!!

gf cupcakes with frosting made with organic palm shortening, cocoa, and sweetened with a touch of honey

Another reason to love the sun

2011-07-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

I don't have to use the dryer!

4th of July at Ohanapecosh

2011-07-10T13:35:00.000-07:00

My parents, my brother's family, Tyler, and I all met up at Ohanapecosh for the 4th of July this year! So much fun. It is located off of road 123 in the Mt. Rainier National Park. It took us about 2 hours and 30 minutes to arrive. There are camp grounds, hiking trails, waterfalls, giant trees, and places to go cliff jumping (about 20 feet so not super high). The weather was perfect, it was fun to see my family, and we had a tasty picnic as well.

My nephew and niece are standing in front of one of the giant trees that was cut down. It was over 750 years old!

Tyler is checking out one of the first mini water falls we saw on our hike.

Jileesa, is all ready to hike!

Steve using a natural bridge instead of the man made one we all crossed

Tyler and the Ohanapecosh or Stafford Falls (apparently they've been called both.)

Mist from the falls were getting water droplets on the camera, but can you see the rainbow I was trying to take a picture of?

There was a sign and a park ranger making sure only 1 person crossed the bridge at a time

We decided the two kiddos counted as 1 person :)

Yes, I was the annoying photographer that made them stop and wave to me while crossing the bridge

Jileesa standing between 2 giant trees in the Grove of the Patriarchs

Another year completed!

2011-06-12T14:10:00.000-07:00

Ready to honor Tyler at the Omicron Kappa Upsilon dinner.

Tyler and I have finished another school year! I get a summer break but he still has lecture, clinic, a volunteer research project, and an externship to do. Hopefully someday he can have some time to just chill out! Tyler finished the year at the top of his class so he was awarded a scholarship from OKU, the National Dental Honor Society. It was just as nice as last year, and I'm glad he took me to be his date because the view, food, and people make it a really special evening.

I still have a week left and then I'll be done with my pre-requisites for my nutrition program. I'll be starting this September at the Nutritional Therapy Association. I had a 3 hour conference call with *Caroline Barringer last week and it got me really excited for this fall!

Memorial weekend Tyler's parents came up and we all went to Sequim to visit his grandma Carol. It's always so nice to there. The ocean, countryside, and mountains are all in one place and it's very therapeutic.

My parents came up for the annual Herb Fair that Bastyr puts on. Each year it gets bigger and better. For some reason I didn't get any pictures. Check out the Herb Fair's from the last two years here. In the morning before the fair we all had breakfast at the Portage Bay Cafe. They have great food and there is something for everyone. I've heard they might start offering duck eggs as an option, maybe if enough people ask? I had the sweet rice porridge since it is vegan and gluten free I didn't have to worry about having a reaction.

As usual I wanted to attend all of the classes, but that's not an option since several of them are going at the same time. We hit up two cooking classes, one taught us how to make our own V-8 juice (plus other ways to use it besides drinking it). The second one was Thai spring rolls with peanut dipping sauce. They were beyond delicious and I need to make them very soon! We also learned about herbs that can be used for first aid and how to make herbal infusions (with honey and vinegar) to nourish and heal. Another bonus was that all of the books were on sale for 20% off! Bastyr had most of the books that I will need for my NTP courses so I lucked out!

Overall things are going well for us and I am more than ready to enjoy my summer!

*Note: Caroline Barringer, NTP, FES, CHFS
Currently resides in New York State and has been in clinical practice since 2001, specializing in Fertility Enhancement through therapeutic nutritional support and gentle detoxification protocols at her Birth Renaissance Clinic on Long Island. Caroline is currently the CEO and Director of Immunitrition, Inc., Lead Instructor for NTA, Master Certified Healing Food Specialist, Fertility Enhancement Specialist, author, international lecturer and Weston A. Price Chapter Leader

Looks like....

2011-05-25T13:29:00.000-07:00

Me, Tyler, or the milk man's baby perhaps? I had a little fun on make me babies today. Let's just say Tyler might question who the father really is since most of our children came out looking quite ethnic considering their parent's heritage. I uploaded several different pictures of Tyler and I to see how that would change the results, it was pretty funny.

ignore the names I didn't realize I had to put a new name in each time, oops!

Do we look like the parents of any of these children?

In the Pursuit of Truth

2011-05-08T20:56:00.000-07:00

Many of you know I decided to switch over to a vegan diet last year. According to the things I knew then it was the healthiest way to eat. Well in the past year soy, wheat, and beans replaced meat. Turns out I have food intolerances to soy, wheat, and some beans. How ironic I thought I was doing something good for my body and that was not the case at all! Tummy aches, serious bloating, acne, constipation, weight gain, and severe dry skin/eczema were the result. My body rejected the things I was putting into it.

So the research began. After talking to my sis-in-law I was pretty sure I was having delayed allergy reactions. That is when I went and got the IgA and IgG blood tests done. I got my results back and that was a start. Tyler's mom was quick to help, she got me a juicer and put me on a candida yeast cleanse to kick start my way to health. I am so grateful for her.

Then I read these books: Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, The Truth About Beauty by Kat James, In Defense of Food by Michael Pollen, Breaking the Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall, The Feel Good Cookbook by Jonell West Francis. I can't tell you how many hours I spent online researching and seeking out fact from fiction. What studies are flawed and which ones make sense. There is so much confusion in the world of nutrition! In fact, I am still researching!

I still have a long list on GoodReads of so many other books that I want/need to read.

While I think The China Study has a lot of good information I think it was missing something. The study on meat wasn't done on meat that was grass fed, free range, organic, and properly cooked. I have a feeling this kind of study would turn out different. Especially when sugar and processed food is taken out as well. Don't get me wrong I'm not gonna eat a 20 oz steak every night. I think it is very important to consume a lot of fruit and veggies each day but I now believe real meat and real fat should be included.

I make my own nut milk. I have noticed that many of them at the store are expensive and full of sugar (some have up to 15 grams!) Any of them that are labeled low fat have even more sugar! There are certain nut milks that I keep in my pantry when I am in a pinch. I really like Unsweetened tempt milk and one from Trader Joes that has a mix of quinoa, amaranth, and millet. On a side note anything that is labeled low fat will be high in sugar. It's better to get the full fat (good fat) and less sugar. This leaves you satisfied instead of craving more sugar.

avocado smoothie made with tempt milk

I have been going to Bill the Butcher to get quality meat for the past month. Their meat is different from what you will buy at any ol grocery store, just read their following statement.

"Bill the Butcher believes in supporting sustainable farming practices and working with local farmers and ranchers who raise beef, pork and poultry without hormones, steroids and genetically modified feed. We also feature open pastured organic and natural grass fed beef that has not been artificially and intentionally fattened on corn. This gentle and natural diet creates meat that is high in Omega 3 and 6 essential oils and is far healthier than traditional beef raised in a feedlot."

In September I will be taking an 8 month course through the Nutritional Therapy Association. They use Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon in their teachings so in a year I will have a lot more knowledge than I do now. I am constantly reading and doing research on my own when it comes to nutrition and I am excited to have some experienced experts give me some guidance.

It's always good to end with scripture references :)

D and C 49

18And whoso ^aforbiddeth to ^babstain from ^cmeats, that man should not eat the same, is not ordained of God;

19For, behold, the ^abeasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which cometh of the earth, is ^bordained for the use of man for food and for ^craimen t, and that he might have in abundance.

D and C 89
12Yea, ^aflesh also of ^bbeasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used ^csparingly;

13And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be ^aused, only in times of winter, or of cold, or ^bfamine.

Fermented Tummy

2011-05-07T17:38:00.000-07:00

I am loving Firefly Kitchen's Sauerkraut. I picked some up at Whole Foods and I've been eating it with every meal. I can't stop, it's so good. They have a few different kinds but I am all about the Ruby Red. It has red/green cabbage, beets, green onions, and carrots in it. This combo is perfect, I think it was made specifically for me.

Firefly is made locally in Ballard. Turns out they need some volunteers and they "pay" you in sauerkraut. Sounds like a deal to me! I guess I know what I'll be doing in my spare time.

There are so many benefits to eating fermented food. I am noticing a difference in my tummy as I have increased my consumption. Probiotics, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants will keep you nice and healthy.

It's about time....

2011-05-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

It's a good thing I believe in a God that shows mercy as well as justice, because he is gonna need it

growing out of control

2011-04-29T00:21:00.000-07:00

Lentil sprouts growing in a large colander.

There are more sprouts here than two people can consume in a reasonable amount of time

I have two large ziplock bags filled with sprouts. I usually only do 1/2 a cup at a time but I accidentally did 2 cups which grows into a lot of sprouts! I had started sprouting some lentils to make soup, but Tyler and I ended up doing something different for dinner. Well, I never made the soup and these babies just kept growing....

Saturday was Fantastic

2011-04-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

Saturday, April 23 I turned 25!! I couldn't have wished for a better day. I woke up to clear skies and the most amazing sunshine I have seen since last August. That alone was the only gift I wanted. I went to work and everyone was getting ready for Easter so it went by really fast.

When I came home I had several text, facebook, and voice messages from so many friends/family members I felt so loved! Thanks everyone ;-)

I had a duck egg made over easy for lunch. I have craved eggs for so long but they kill my tummy if I eat them. My sis-in-law has a son with food allergies and he can't tolerate chicken eggs but can eat duck eggs. The protein make up of duck eggs is different and many people that have intolerances to chicken eggs can eat duck eggs. Kind of like how I can't tolerate cow's milk (although there are claims that I could handle raw milk just fine) and goat's milk doesn't cause any problems for me. Turns out PCC is about 5 min down the street from where I live and they sell duck eggs. It is really fantastic!

chicken eggs are smaller and the duck eggs are larger

Tyler went out to brunch with an old roomie from BYU on Sat. When he came home he surprised me by taking me kayaking on such a beautiful day! Out of all the things to do in Seattle, Kayaking is by far my favorite thing so far. Whenever I am at REI I stare at the kayaks and dream about owning one. I am often tempted to buy one but the price always brings me back down to earth and I go to Aqua Verde and rent one for an hour or two. I wish I could go kayaking everyday in the sunshine : )

paddling past Gas Works Park. I should have taken a picture of the hills. They were covered with so many people you could barely see the grass! It's insane what the sun does to people in Seattle.

The good ol Space needle

Me!

Whenever we went under a bridge I warned Tyler to watch out for Trolls!

I told Tyler we should live in a house boat for our last year of school here.

He thought it was a great idea...we both have a feeling money won't allow us to do that though

getting closer to downtown on Lake Union

Getting closer to the Space Needle, and Tyler enjoyed looking at all the yachts. There were a few Ocean Alexander's he had his eyes on

Downtown has such a different feel from the water vs land

Such a gorgeous day!

After a wonderful adventure on the water, we were hungry! I lucked out and worked a ton of extra hours the past two weeks so my paycheck allowed us to have a nice dinner. Instead of going down town to the Crab Pot (which we both were craving) we went to Costco. There we purchased salmon, mussels, 1 dungeness crab, 2 king crab legs, scallops, and shrimp. Yes, we had a seafood extravaganza like the Crab Pot offers except we had more food. It was still less money then if we were to actually go there to eat. Double bonus!

The feast.

Dungeness Crab and King Crab Legs

Wild Alaskan Salmon, Scallops, and Shrimp

Mussels....

and more mussels.....(plus more in the fridge)

The aftermath....it was so much more food than we could eat, but the leftovers have been great!

I love getting recipes from The Spunky Coconut. Her recipes are gluten, diary, and sugar free. She had made a chocolate banana pie that looked soo good. I knew that is what I wanted for my birthday "cake." Even though it was a much healthier option than the typical birthday sweets it was just as good, if not better.

The crust is made from ground up walnuts, coconut flour, flax meal, and unrefined coconut oil

The filling is made from cocoa powder, bananas, dates, chia seeds, and coconut oil

We received a whip cream dispenser for Christmas and we fill it with the canned coconut milk and viola, whipped coconut cream! I should have let it chill a bit longer so it would have set up a little better. However it tasted amazing! I am excited for leftovers, plus I think this is the kind of dessert that I could have a slice for breakfast and feel just fine about it!

Overall Saturday was a fantastic birthday. Tyler, my parents, my in-laws, and so many of my friends made it so special. Thank You!!!

growing shrooms

2011-04-18T21:34:00.000-07:00

I planted several sugar snap peas in some recycled cans so they could sprout and grow a bit before I transplant them into my garden outside. I went to water them and I noticed something else growing with my peas. Mushrooms! I'm not sure how that happened since I know nothing about fungi. I will be removing them instead of eating them in case you were wondering, I am not that brave or stupid. Kind of funny though.

My very own pair of.....

2011-04-10T15:25:00.000-07:00

Vibram Five Fingers!!!! I wore them all day yesterday and was surprised that my feet didn't get sore. I had read so many stories about people who wore them for a 10 minute run and couldn't walk for a week. I did a loop around green lake (2.8 miles) but I didn't actually run in them. I got them at REI, I'm pretty sure I could live in that store. I went in for these beauties and wanted to leave with so many other items. However I was strong and did not take home the kayak, clothes, and climbing gear that I wish to have.

Ok, who wants to hit the trails with me?!

I can go anywhere with these on, I wish I had them when we hiked all over Maui. My Keenes (which I love) just didn't have the gripping ability that I needed.

All Natural Egg Dyes

2011-04-01T00:29:00.000-07:00

Easter is coming up and dyeing eggs has always been a fun activity for me. PCC posted how to dye the eggs naturally on their site. I think this will be a fun activity.

Yellow/Gold: Boil 3 tablespoons cumin or turmeric
Yellow: Steep 2 to 3 green tea or chamomile tea bags in hot water
Orange: Boil paprika
Red: Boil red onion skins
Lavender: Steep hibiscus tea bags in hot water
Blue: Boil 4 cups chopped red cabbage
Rusty brown: Boil chili powder
Brown: Boil old coffee grounds or use old coffee as a dye
Light Brown: Boil dill seeds

Garlic Jim's Gluten Free Pizza

2011-03-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

Tried out Garlic Jim's gluten free pizza tonight. Here's my review on my cooking blog.

"Worthless women and the men who make them"

2011-03-01T12:33:00.000-08:00

I just read this post that was written by a man. I was impressed and hope the word spreads to other men.

"Worthless women and the men who make them"

I am grateful for a husband who tells me I am important and that I don't need to see a plastic surgeon in order for me to be desirable. I am proud that his parents raised him to want and appreciate real women. Kudos to Dan for raising the bar to all men and writing this article.

Now I don't want this to be an excuse for women to quit trying. I am still going to go to school, go to work, clean the house, make dinner, exercise and shower daily; and I think it's still important to dress up and try to be beautiful. Doing these things make me feel strong, pretty, and proud of myself (I would do them with or without a man.)

I don't want to be a slob and then expect to be treated like I am not. Nor do I want to be a slave to all the airbrushed models out there. Seriously, do some research on how much work is done to photoshop every image before it's published in a magazine. Waists are slimmed down, breasts are enlarged, necks are elongated, and skin becomes flawless to create the perfect woman. I am sure you have all seen the Dove Evolution. I also like The Photoshop Effect where a photographer shows what he does for magazines.

Mini Vacations

2011-02-27T20:57:00.000-08:00

Tyler and I have been helping out family and also been making mini-vacations out of these visits.

Last weekend we went to Sequim to visit his grandma Carol. Tyler spent many summers there growing up and they became very close. In fact we had been married only 5 months and we moved in with her for the summer in 2008. He worked on the ferry that went from Port Angeles to Victoria and I was able to get to know and love Carol. Last weekend we, along with Tyler's parents went to visit her and help get some things organized. It's always nice to get away, see family, and walk along the ocean.

So refreshing!

Don't mind my frumpy beach attire. Beaches in Sequim aren't exactly the warmest.

This weekend we went and had dinner with my aunt and uncle in Bellevue. They went to Hawaii so we get to house sit and dog sit! My closest friends and relatives know that I am a total softy when it comes to dogs. I love dogs more than anything. When I lived in Kennewick I would take recycled newspapers and shredded paper to the humane society and walk the dogs there. When I'm having a bad day all Tyler has to do is show me a picture of a puppy and I start to feel better.

I get a whole week with Polly and I am stoked!

Polly and I, she's the sweetest labradoodle ever!

She wasn't really into the webcam, but she loves playing tag. Also she sat by the front door for 5 hours straight after my aunt and uncle left, it was so sad. However she's warmed up to us so she's ready to have some fun!

Valentines Day

2011-02-15T22:30:00.000-08:00

Beautiful Flowers + Dark Chocolate = Happy Valentines Day!

Random

2011-02-15T22:14:00.000-08:00

I found some old pictures and figured I'd toss them on the blog.

Tyler has been able to catch up with his buddy Michael, they grew up together. We've been able to have dinner with them a couple of times and our faces always hurt when we get home from laughing so much!

Michael and his wife Anita recently had a sweet little baby! I wanted to take him home with me. Check out the calendar in the background, Michael's sister Tami is a great photographer and put it together.

Tyler and I both loved snakes growing up. So we've enjoyed going to the reptile zoo up in Monroe.

Tyler is a big fan of the Red Tail Boa's and I am in love with the Eastern Indigo's. It's fun to see and hold all the different ones.

I had fun running the Turkey Trot Thanksgiving morning even if my stomach was killing me because of my food allergies.

Tyler snapped a picture of me getting ready to go play soccer. That is one thing I really look forward to each Tuesday night!

A friend of mine gave me a snuggie since I am cold while I do my homework. I have found I like to wear the arms on my legs because my feet stay so much warmer.

We don't have a nativity scene so I printed one out and we painted it to get into the Christmas Spirit.

I have an inkling....

2011-02-05T15:29:00.000-08:00

....that there are going to be many more kids like Birke in the future!

Birke Baehr: What's wrong with our food system | Video on TED.com

It's time to work out, so start laughing

2011-02-01T11:24:00.000-08:00

My friend posted this laughing work out on facebook and I was dying when I watched it. Would any of you give this a try? It's even more funny because she gets so serious between her bursts of laughter.

Relax

2011-01-16T18:37:00.000-08:00

The benefit of being a student is getting days off! Three day weekends in particular are great. I finished ALL of my homework on Saturday so that means tomorrow is completely mine and Tyler's. The weird thing is we never have free time and we are always wishing we did, yet now that we have it we aren't sure what to do!
Over the break it snowed in the Tri-Cities and my dad and I tried to see if we could ski down some of the nearby hills. We didn't have a sled and I haven't been skiing for 3 years so as goofy as it was I thought why not? To make it even more goofy we put on giant snow suits that my parents have had forever.

Nacho Time!

2011-01-12T15:55:00.000-08:00

In my last post I mentioned how I was super excited when I found Daiya Cheese. It's great since it doesn't have any dairy, casein, eggs, gluten, soy, or almonds in it. The one downfall is it's a bit pricey. I kept looking at the ingredients and they seemed so simple, I thought I should be able to make my own with a little practice. Well today was my first try and I was very surprised at how successful it was! I have a few things to tweak before I post the recipe, but overall I am happy with today's results!

It has the right color, smell, and flavor of cheddar cheese

agar agar is the secret ingredient to firm it up

It shreds well

It also melts

Overall it makes some really good nachos!

How were YOU raised?

2011-01-11T18:49:00.000-08:00

My friend posted this article on FB: "Why Chinese Mother's are Superior."
It really made me think. First about my childhood and then about how I want to raise my children. I have many fond memories of sleepovers, running around with my friends, and working hard in Track & Field. I also have fond memories of working hard practicing the piano and mastering a song to play for a recital, studying hard to get an A in class, and not going anywhere until my chores were done. I would say my parents were somewhere in the middle of Chinese and Western parenting and I hope to do the same. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Pizza-Pi

2011-01-09T16:54:00.000-08:00

I went to Pizza-Pi with my wonderful friend Valeria the other day. I had the most delicious pizza with kalamata olives, sun dried tomatoes, artichokes, marinara sauce, and Daiya cheese. There wasn't any gluten, soy, dairy, eggs, or any other of my allergens nearby. I ate real food without ANY problems. I felt so alive I almost cried!

It's nice to have a lunch buddy who understands. Valeria is gluten and dairy free as well.

My pizza was so good, I can't wait to go back!

I let Tyler try a slice, and he was quite impressed. My next goal is to learn how to make a gluten free pizza dough just like theirs. It was probably one of the best crust's I've had regardless of it being gluten free or not!

Meet my new friend Daiya, we will be seeing much more of each other.

Food Allergy Results

2011-01-06T15:10:00.000-08:00

Growing up I dealt with eczema. As a teen it was acne. I was put on antibiotics for acne and was on them for 3 years! During that time there were side affects like anxiety/depression, yeast infections, and stomach aches. Later in my life I took dairy, eggs, and meat (except fish) out of my diet because I noticed I was having bloating, eczema, and constipation issues. That seemed to do the trick. I was happy and feeling really healthy. Then 5 months ago I was hit hard and fast with several symptoms: dry skin, insomnia, bloating, gas, constipation, passing undigested food, acne, night sweats, weight gain, and stomach pain. This happened whenever I ate and lasted from an hour to several days. The symptoms got worse and worse each week! I even took pictures, people don't believe me when I tell them the bloating and constipation made me look pregnant!

This is me off dairy, eggs, and most meat (except fish) I was feeling really good!

This was after I had just had a glass of almond milk and nothing else

Notice the sweat pants trend? none of my pants were fitting me. Yeah no baby in there. Just gas, inflammation, Candida yeast overgrowth, and 6 days of constipation. Not a happy tummy!

I had a great support system as I was going through this though. Tyler told me he loved me every day. Tyler's mom and sister were constantly searching for answers. My parents, friends, and siblings had a ton of kind words to say and gave me hope.

My sister in law has a really helpful and informed blog about health and food allergies.

Getting to the Bottom of Things

What helped? I did an elimination diet. No dairy, eggs, soy, gluten, grains, sugar, starches, beans, or meat besides fish. I've been eating raw green drinks in the morning, quinoa (that seems to calm my stomach), bananas, cooked veggies, and fish. Now that I have my result I can start adding in more.

I also am doing a 15 day cleanse to kill the candida yeast overgrowth. If any of you have experienced that, you know how real (many Dr.s think it's made up) and awful it is!

I am starting to feel better, and many symptoms have gone away. I am even wearing real clothes again! Here are the results so I can start cooking and eating again. My poor food blog has been neglected far too long and now it's time to give it a make over!

Scale: 0 no reaction, 1 very low, 2 low, 3 moderate, 4 high, 5 very high, and 6 extremely high

6: almonds

5: Egg white and egg yolk

4: lima beans, rye, spelt, whole wheat, gluten

3: whey, milk, cranberries, soy, mushrooms

2: yogurt, kidney beans, asparagus

1: casein, oysters, barley, peanuts, sesame seeds, radish

Change for the Better

2011-01-01T15:37:00.000-08:00

Eczema, IBS, Candida Overgrowth, Fatigue, weight gain, Acne, Bloating, Gas, passing undigested food, and Constipation are problems I have been dealing with at different stages in my life. Enough is a enough. I have been studying, searching, and praying for freedom. I'm getting answers and I will be getting IGG and IGE blood test results back this Thursday since food allergies/intolerances often are the cause. Lately I have been gluten free, dairy free, meat free (except for fish), soy free, peanut free, and starch free (disaccharides and polysaccharides). I am on a very simple diet trying to heal my inflamed gut. I just started a 15 day cleanse/detox that has helped immensely! I will write more later but I thought I would give people a heads up for now. Cheers to a new year full of health!

Winter Wonderland

2010-11-22T18:02:00.000-08:00

I woke up today and took Tyler to school and there was probably an inch of snow on the ground. Well he was home an hour later (thanks John!) because his patients all cancelled today. Everyone wants to stay home cuddle up and drink hot cocoa! I love playing in the snow so I put some long johns on and went out for a 5 mile run. I love feeling the snow melt on my cheeks, and seeing the smoke come out of all the chimneys. Fresh falling snow is so magical, I love it!

This is the view of backyard around 9:00 am today. It looks like a winter wonderland to me!

Well I certainly cannot grow any winter veggies in the snow so I have been growing sprouts inside to eat on sandwiches, salads, and top off soup with. I love that it only takes 4 days to have a quart sized jar of sprouts!

Alive Expo in Seattle

2010-11-19T12:44:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday I went to the Alive Expo with my dear friend Valeria. The focus is to inform the world of natural health and wellness. This is trick or treating for anyone that is interested in nutrition, health, and wellness. I came home with a bag full of samples and a t-shirt that I won, a million pamphlets, vitamins, gluten free-dairy free-egg free samples, a million flyers, natural soap, natural cleaners, natural make up, a million cards, pencils, a flashlight, lotions, and other health food samples.

We listened to a speaker Kat James tell us her journey to finding health. She wrote a book "The Truth About Beauty." I'll be curious to pick it up and read it since she was pretty vague about her current diet/exercise lifestyle. Which is probably a smart selling tactic. The tickets were $6.00 and it was well worth it. So glad they stopped in Seattle!

Striving To Be

2010-11-10T10:52:00.000-08:00

I read this quote today and I thought that is who I want to be, so I thought I'd share it.

"As we pass through the trials of life, let us keep an eternal perspective, let us not complain, let us become even more prayerful, let us serve others, and let us forgive one another. As we do this, 'all things [will] work together for good to [us] that love God." (Ensign, May 2010).

I'd love to hear what quotes are inspiring you right now :)

Yum!

2010-11-04T08:45:00.000-07:00

I was so hungry on Sunday I forgot my camera and didn't take any pictures of the feast my friends and I had. However my amazing friend Emily did remember and she shared a couple with me!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts behind the honey, Whole Wheat Oat Bread in front of the honey, Debi's awesome cake in center, and Black Bean Pumpkin Chili in a pumpkin to the right

I highly recommend serving chili from a pumpkin!

Cheers to the upcoming holidays, I hope everyone enjoys some tasty food!

Last Week of October

2010-11-02T11:07:00.000-07:00

Fall has been pretty nice in Seattle. Rainy one day and Sunny the next. Which is much better then never ending rain and darkness. I've been lucky that the rain hasn't been on Tuesday nights when I have my soccer games. Although it is starting to get quite chilly. My hands felt like ice the last game even though I was sweating like crazy, so it's time to bust out the gloves and other fall accessories for when I am outside.

I started a new job. I work at Great Harvest Bread Co. and I love it! Right now I am the Saturday morning opener. I get there at 5:30 am and get things going! I get to do a wide variety of things from helping customers choose something good to eat, making sandwiches and coffee drinks, and my favorite helping with the baking of breads, sweets, and granola. My boss is great. He owns two stores the one on sand point and one in Puyallup. We make Gluten free bread on Wednesdays at sand point and Puyallup makes a variety of gluten free bread and treats. I have quite a few family and friends that are GF so I am excited to share some really good GF bread with them. I have tried several GF breads and some are good and some are not, at all. The GF bread from Great Harvest is probably the best I've ever had. It is not dense, it's light and moist with a really nice flavor. Which surprised me since it's made with buckwheat and brown rice flour.

Another benefit is that many of my friends live near Great Harvest and I had several surprise visits last Saturday which is always nice :)

Some friends and I got together and planned a Halloween dinner. It turned out excellent! I made black bean pumpkin chili and I served it in a pumpkin. (Shout out to Tyer for driving to 7 different locations to find that pumpkin, thank you Whole Foods for always having what I need). I also made whole Wheat sunflower bread with oats. My friends made: Fresh fruit salad, Roasted Brussels sprouts, baked sweet potatoes, sparkling fruity drink served with gummy worm ice cubes, a cute pumpkin shaped cake, and spiced apple pie. It was a huge success and I would much rather feast on healthy food than get overhauled on candy.

One more thing, my friend posted this on facebook and I love the idea so I had to post it here!

No more mean girls...or boys, or parents, or siblings......

2010-10-21T01:37:00.000-07:00

The lovely Courtney Price posted two links on her blog Vintage Ginger Peaches today. I read them. I cried. I prayed for world peace. I prayed that I could stop the hate that goes on each and everyday. I prayed that we all could be more Christ-like and truly love one another like Christ did when he walked this earth. I prayed especially hard for all the children that are hurt each day because it makes me sick to think about their pain and suffering.

The links she posted were to the blog Single Dad Laughing. I've read his blog before and it is very well written.
You just broke your child. Congratulations.
Memoirs of a bullied kid.

I also wanted to post this video because it is also related to bullying and it also made me cry.
I remember in 1998 hearing how Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered because he was gay. I felt horrible then and I feel horrible now, especially when I heard some friends and family joke about it. I felt sick and uncomfortable. At 11 years old I knew it was wrong that he was killed for being gay but I didn't know how to express my feelings then. The following describes my feelings today:

I know that Matthew was made in God's image just as every person on this earth has been made in God's image no matter how different they may seem (Genesis 1:27). I know that we are commanded to love one another (1 John 4:7). I also know that God doesn't approve of homosexuality (Leviticus 18:22) but that doesn't mean we should stop being kind and loving someone who is gay. God loves all of his children and so should we, they really are our brothers and sisters. Each one of us is given the gift to choose our own path in life (Moses 7:32). Satan will try to get us to make the wrong choice (Moses 4:3). If and when we do make wrong choices Jesus Christ has atoned for our sins so that we can repent and make good choices again (Isaiah 53:3-12, Mosiah 3:7-12, Romans 5)

God loves us all the same, and he loves each one of us more deeply than we will ever truly comprehend. He's not happy with all of our personal choices, but he still loves us. He knew that we weren't going to come to earth and live a life that is trouble free. There would be no point in that. We came here to prove to ourselves and to our Heavenly Father that we can each make choices that will allow us to live with Him after this life ends.

While we live on this earth, every single one of us will have trials. These trials can be mental, physical, or a little bit of both. Jesus Christ came to earth and lived a perfect life, yet he felt every single temptation and sin that was ever committed or that will be committed. He understands what each one of us is going through. I have temptations, I have committed sins, but I also have my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to thank because with the atonement I can repent and make positive changes in my life. When I try to be better everyday and try to love those around me more everyday I know that the world can be a more positive place. If we all could make a positive change each day the world could be an amazing wonderful place, and that is worth praying for.

saving pennies!

2010-10-14T22:05:00.000-07:00

I thought about buying a cooling rack today. Then I remembered I have a second oven rack, isn't that why ovens have two racks? One to bake and the other one is used to cool? Well needless to say it worked and it saved me $10. Since when does a wire rack that doesn't do anything cost 10 bucks?

October Update

2010-10-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

Well I don't have any pictures to put on this post, but I thought I'd give a quick update for those that care.
Tyler is enjoying his 3rd year of Dental school. He gets up and rides his bike to school, goes to lecture, then see's patients the rest of the day. When he comes home he can actually do some things that he wants to do (like skate board) instead of being a slave to his books. It is a very refreshing Tyler that I haven't seen in a long time!
I am taking Chemistry again and I like my teacher, I am also taking an art class which is a lot of fun!
My parents came up for a visit Sunday night and it was soo great to see them. I made them one of my favorite pizza's. Roasted garlic blended with coconut milk for the sauce and sun-dried tomatoes on top with fresh sprigs of thyme. It was so nice to catch up with them and go for a walk Monday morning at Magnuson Park. I am also so grateful that they are still caring for me (and Tyler). They brought me some raw honey, a bucket of hard red wheat from Wheat Montana , black berry jam, fresh carrots from their garden, dried apples, dried basil, a giant bag of apples from a local farm, and of course Pero! A big thanks to them, because that will help us out big time!
I've applied to some different jobs to see if I can get a part time thing going.
I've also been enjoying the fall weather. It's so magical, I look forward to fall every year.
Tyler and I also have new callings at church we are now primary teachers for kids that are 4 and 5. Last Sunday was our first time to teach and it was so fun to work with my husband as we taught children about God's love for them.
I couldn't ask for a better life :)

Thank You

2010-10-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

I want to thank everyone who took some time to pray for Tyler or send him positive thoughts while he took his dental boards. Your kindness was very helpful, he got his score back yesterday and he did great! He didn't get the number he was shooting for but he got really really close, (one digit away). Anyways I am proud of his hard work and that he is always trying to reach his dreams! I am so thankful to have such great family and friends who are supporting us on this journey through Dental School.

Chili Cook Off

2010-10-02T22:13:00.000-07:00

There was a chili cook off at church a few weeks ago. I made a vegan chili that had little kick to it. I was going more for taste and not for heat this year.

Here is the chili line up. I think there were a total of 16 different chili's there this year

When I was making it Tyler asked me if I needed to warm people that it was hot. I said oh no, it's not that hot I only put a few jalapeños and a few dashes of cayenne pepper in it. Well apparently the judges thought otherwise....

The Hot Tamales candy was the prize my chili was given for being the hottest chili. So I guess my kick was stronger that I thought.

We celebrate by sitting

2010-09-22T16:52:00.000-07:00

Tyler took his dental boards and he starts school tomorrow. He never gets to relax I feel so bad! However I want to thank everyone who prayed for Tyler and sent him good vibes, we both appreciate it. Now it's the waiting game. In 2 to 3 weeks we will find out his score. He feels confident he passed, however he had a goal score that he wanted to reach so hopefully he hit it!

So to celebrate the end of 2 years of dental school, working really hard and finishing in the top of his class, and taking the boards we bought a new leather sofa. We found a guy on Craigslist that makes couches and his business is up in Kirkland. We liked what we saw, we liked the price, and we liked what we felt when we sat down. We are now celebrating by sitting down and enjoying each others company because we are going to be running around again sooner than we know it!

I am very happy to have a new couch that doesn't kill my back!

I like the stitching and I am glad it is not a poofy leather sofa, it is nice and firm.

If you are looking for a nice sofa for a decent price call Chris Teterud at 425-780-5449

Prayers Needed for Saturday!

2010-09-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

This picture is from google images

This Saturday (the 18th) is a really big day for Tyler. He will be taking his Dental Boards at noon. It is an eight hour test (crazy I know, I can test for about 2 hours and then I am done!) I will be saying a never ending prayer for him that day and I would really appreciate it if family and friends could pray for him as well. He has been studying so hard from morning till night for this test. I am so proud of him and all the work he has put into Dental School it's really paying off, he's doing amazing and through it all he still makes sure to help me out at home and get things done at church. He is beyond the man of my dreams and I know he's gonna do great on Saturday! GO TYLER!

Fun Friday!!

2010-09-08T22:03:00.000-07:00

Tyler has been so dedicated and studies morning till night for the boards. I've never seen anything like it. It's impressive and scary at the same time. One day I came home and he was dizzy he had been studying so hard. I have never gotten dizzy from studying, he is seriously hard core.
My brother called and mentioned he had an extra ticket to a Mariners game, since Tyler would feel too guilty to go to the game knowing he should be studying for the boards I so kindly offered to go for him : )
So last Friday was super fun for me. I slept in, then went on a bike ride with an awesome friend of mine. We rode our bikes from my house to Bastyr (about 1 hour and 25 minutes) had lunch at Bastyr's vegetarian cafeteria and rode our bikes home (about an hour back) I took a relaxing shower and then jumped on the bus down town and took my time window shopping as I made my way to the ferry to meet my big brother.

While I was waiting for Nathan I was watching the cars as they loaded the ferry. Unfortunately this one didn't make it on. Hope they weren't headed somewhere super important.

Yay we made it to the game!

Did I mention Nathan had great tickets? look how close we were to Ichiro, just 3 row's away from the field! And we really lucked out because they actually won their game against the Indians! (hasn't' been a great season for the M's). I must be a good luck charm because the game I went to last year they also won.

Thanks again and if you have any more extra tickets I'll always go with you, and Tyler will be studying until the 18th so count me in! Although I may have to try the famous garlic fries that we weren't allowed to get....(It's because we love you Kate!!)

Family Reunion 2010

2010-09-04T00:42:00.000-07:00

So 2 weeks ago my parents held a mini family reunion in their home in Kennewick. Tyler and I made our way up on Friday night after work and school. I was able to see my new nephews together, they are soo cute! Saturday afternoon we went to the Hanford B-Reactor that made the Uranium for the atomic bomb in WWII. It shut down in 1968 and has been cleaned up (radiation/asbestos) so that the public can safely see what actually happened there.
The rest of the time we hung out, ate good food, played with the kids (even though poor Brooklyn got the flu), held the sweet new babies, went to church on Sunday, and then Tyler and I drove back that night. It was soo good to see everyone and catch up.

Fen, Karin, Tyler, Kathryn, Erik holding Jeremy, Amy, Nathan holding Oliver, Kate, Tiffany, Steve, In Front Brooklyn, Jileesa, and Joel

Jeremy and Oliver

Fathers with Sons

Nap time for Jeremy (hope Amy snuck one in as well)

So sweet!

I can't believe how fast this beautiful girl is growing up!

Nathan debating if he will fall for Joel's cuteness

Yup, he did (but who wouldn't? look at this kid!)

Off to the B Reactor!

Tiffany and Steve off to the B Reactor (I think most of us snuck in a nap)

Steve in front of the B Reactor

B Reactor stuff that is to complicated for me to remember any details

Apparently the Russions come over and take pictures of these valves and compare them to the pictures from the past to make sure they haven't been moved so they can make sure we aren't making Plutonium for nuclear bombs. It closed down in 1968.

Happy Moments

2010-09-01T23:55:00.000-07:00

So one of my favorite places to find recipes is food gawker. Since I have a food blog I've secretly wanted to have some of my recipes posted on food gawker. In fact I submitted 5 different postings and was denied every single time. I wasn't denied because the recipes were bad, I was denied because I lack the talent to take a decent picture of the food I make.

One day I mentioned to my friend Emily about my little dream and how it had been smashed to pieces 5 times. She is a professional photographer and offered to help me out. She didn't just take the photos for me either she helped me pick blackberries and we made a pie together (because that is the kind of person she is!). I submitted the post to food gawker and we made it!! So my little dream finally came true, thanks Emily you are wonderful!

What are some of your dreams/goals that you want to accomplish someday?

Our pie is in the upper right hand corner!

White Coat Ceremony

2010-08-18T01:10:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was Tyler's white coat ceremony. His parents, his grandmother from California, and my parents all came to support/honor him during this ceremony. He's done 2 years of Dental School and will be taking the boards September 18th and has just started caring for patients. Oh and he's also done really really well this entire time, his grades are amazing and he is in the top of his class! I am very impressed and very proud of him. Dr. Wataha, who is one of the professors at UW gave an excellent speech encouraging the students to respect, listen, understand,and not judge their patients but to give them the care and guidance they are seeking from a Dentist. I really enjoyed it and felt honored to attend such a wonderful event.

His class reciting the student pledge to be a dentist with integrity.

Tyler receiving his white coat, he is now a student dentist that can work on patients

Tyler with his wonderful parents

Tyler and my fantastic parents

Tyler with his sweet grandmother "Nona"

We went into the dental lab afterwards to see some of the projects Tyler's been working on. He made a beautiful bridge out of gold. He's got some serious talent!

I couldn't be more proud!

La Bera Cafe

2010-07-31T23:12:00.000-07:00

We.. I interviewed for a job to be the baker at a Cafe. They don't have the ovens (or room for them) to have a baker but they were really impressed with me (and my cooking blog) and asked if I would still be interested in working there. I was given the opportunity to cook for them and they have even decided to put some of my items on the menu. My avocado smoothie and vegan whole wheat waffle with flax seed will be included in the near future. I will be working several positions: running the register, making smoothies, helping cook in the kitchen, expediting, and I am being trained as a barista.
So go ahead and order up your soy milk macchiato with an extra shot of espresso because I'll be ready! I have even been practicing my coffee art. However most of the people that read my blog will probably order hot cocoa so I'll be sure to make that pretty as well. I must say it is strange to know so much about something I don't drink.
Here is a recent article on the cafe including a picture of the building (it needs painted badly, we are still trying to decide what color to paint. Give me your suggestions. And yes, the green window covers must go!) and a picture of ME with some of the staff. I am standing next to Thalita who is the owner, she is so sweet and hard working and she is only 19!
Here is the link!

New Spice and Twilight

2010-07-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

I have been laughing a lot this week. Here are a couple things that have kept me smiling :)

My friend posted this quote about Edward from Twilight, "Edward isn't a vampire. He lives in the forest. He doesn't eat people and he sparkles....He is a fairy."

I am a fan of the Old Spice commercials, I think they are clever and funny. However some BYU students came up with this spoof and I think it beats all of the commercials I have seen. I was crackin up!

Digging in the Dirt

2010-07-17T15:38:00.001-07:00

In March I picked out a bunch of seeds that I wanted to plant and grow this year. Then I bought two planters, 4 containers, and dirt. I had soo much success with basil last year I decided to do 3 containers of basil. In the 4th on I planted a jalapeno pepper. None of the containers made it. They were all knocked over by wind, the fun dog that has been here long before I ever moved in, neighborhood cats, the cute and curious toddler from upstairs, or raccoons (maybe?). It wasn’t a big deal, small potted plants can be pretty tipsy. At least I still had my 2 sturdy planters right?
My planters had a great start. Tomatoes, basil, cucumber, zucchini, spinach, cilantro, and lettuce were all off to a great start. Then I went out one day to water them and all of the plants were gone or had weird holes in them! After staring at my dirt for a while I notices the sticky slime tracks. Slugs! For some reason I was surprised that they could slide up the side of my planters.
I grabbed the salt and poured it around the planters (not in the dirt it will mess up the pH level). Then I went and reseeded my dirt. It rained everyday for the next 3 weeks. Salt was washed away and the dirt was drenched. Maybe I just wasn’t supposed to have a garden this year.
Right before the 4th of July I gave one last try. I tilled the dirt and reseeded for the 3rd time and left the next day for vacation. We came back a few days later and I had sprouts! It hadn’t rained in a while so I watered the garden, and put salt around the planters and left again for another vacation. Apparently the sun came out while we were gone and when we came back everything was growing and there were many dead slugs in my salt traps! Success at last!
I had cut and used a lot of the spinach before I took this picture. It was delicious.

This is a dead slug that didn’t make it past the salt barrier. A lot of the slugs come creeping out around 9:30 pm so I go out and discard them. Some are the length of my palm and some the length of my thumb. Either way I don’t want them eating my plants!

I need to head over to REI

2010-07-15T09:41:00.001-07:00

To pick up a pair of these! The more I look at them the more intrigued I am to give them a try. I love how my Keens feel less like a typical shoe, so I think my feet would really enjoy a pair of Vibram FiveFingers.

Kayaking on Lake Union

2010-07-14T21:22:00.001-07:00

On one of the nicest days that we have had this year Tyler and I decided to take a study break and go kayaking! We both love being on the water. It was so much fun paddling around and looking at the sail boats and yachts as they went by. Then we saw all the funky houseboats, felt a water plane take off, and enjoyed watching all of the people soaking up the sun at Gas Works Park. I wish I could do this every day!

We rented a 2 person Kayak. I enjoyed the view up front and Tyler took care of steering in the back. It was great teamwork.

Herb Fair

2010-06-29T23:56:00.001-07:00

I went to the Herb Fair held at Bastyr on June 5th. I look forward to this even all year! Last year my dear friend Holly was in town and we went together and had a fun time. My parents were going to come up and attend this year but my cousin was staying with them and they are going through a nightmarish kitchen remodel, so they missed out. Because it was bigger than last year and the sun was out (I’ve been missing the sun and summer has not started yet).
Holly and I last year! We got acupuncture done last year. It’s not painful at all and I really felt re-energized afterwards.
Tyler was so sweet and took a break from studying and went with me. He’s drinking organic blood orange juice, it was super tasty. He even enjoyed the cooking class we went to. We learned how to make sushi and we are excited to make it at home for a date night.
Overall I had great time and my parents missed out. Hope to see them next year! It is a lot of fun learning about different types of nutrition and taking (free) cooking classes. Let me know if you want to join me for 2011!

So Proud of Tyler!

2010-06-05T18:15:00.001-07:00

I have been going to UW lately to watch Tyler receive awards. He has worked SO hard these past 2 years. That hard work is paying off!

The Omicron Kappa Upsilon National Dental Honor Society gave scholarships out to the top 2 students of each class. Tyler and another student are tied for second place so they had to give out 3 awards/scholarships.

Tyler didn’t want me to take a picture of him while he held his scholarship. So I took a picture of the scholarship in it’s envelope and the program for that evening.

We got all dressed up and went to a building at UW that overlooks the water (I don’t remember the name). Hors d’oeuvres were served as we chatted with other students and staff. We were given a ticket for the wine bar but luckily they had non alcoholic drinks as well. Then we were ushered in for dinner. It was a very nice set up with a fancy fruit and veggie trays. They also served chicken, salmon, and had a roast beef shaving station. For dessert they had a mixed fruit tart. Then each student was talked about and given their scholarship. It was such a lovely evening and I was so proud of Tyler!

This Friday they had an award ceremony for the Dental School since it is the end of the year. It was fun to watch Tyler and others get called up for all of the hard work and effort they have been putting out this year. Congrats Tyler!!

My New Life

2010-05-06T08:26:00.000-07:00

I have not read her blog but this clip is so beautiful I had to share it. Grab a tissue before viewing because I cried through most of it!

Birthday number 24!

2010-04-27T21:01:00.001-07:00

Well, last Friday I turned another year older. I’m now 24 and I can’t believe it! I still feel like I am a newlywed at 21 :) It was a really nice day. After school I stopped at Green lake and went running in the sunshine. I talked to family and friends and felt loved. That evening I used my dad’s dough recipe for whole wheat pizza dough and made Maui Zaui Pizza! My favorite. Vegan for me and meat/cheese on Tyler’s. I also made whole wheat dark chocolate brownies for dessert served with ice cream!! I picked out vanilla soy dream for me and Tyler got moose tracks! We then watched a movie together and had a nice relaxing evening without any homework! Yay! we always do home work on Friday nights so it was great to have a break!!!

Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate chunk brownies! “I made my wish can I eat them now?!”

Thanks everyone for wishing me a happy birthday because it turned out to be simple, relaxing, and wonderful!

Car Crash Pics and New Car Pics

2010-04-18T22:54:00.001-07:00

Tyler’s dad was able to go see the crashed car after it was towed down to Pasco. Here are a couple pictures that he took:

There is the airbag that saved my life. If you look at the ceiling you can see my dried blood on it since I was upside down when the car stopped. Do note that the side windows are still intact. For some reason I remember them being broken, maybe because glass from the windshield was everywhere…I don’t know but I thought I should correct that.

Tyler then spent a lot of time and research to find a new car all while he was studying for school! He has a talent that is for sure and I give him all the credit because I don’t know the first thing about car shopping.

Before I post the new car that we got in Portland I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words, and offers to help us. Many of you offered to lend us your car and we thank you for your generosity.

We decided to buy another Honda since the last one saved my life and didn’t have any problems. This is a 2003 Honda Accord that Tyler found for a decent price. It had been in a small fender bender but the repair work is excellent. I like the seat warmers and Tyler likes the touch screen GPS! We feel very blessed to everything work out so well.

I don’t usually make this much…

2010-04-18T22:16:00.001-07:00

I made bread last night and each loaf kept getting bigger and bigger!! If you start from the right and move to the left you’ll see what I mean! LOL!

I also made some hamburger buns with some of the dough.

My parents let us borrow their bread slicer. I remembered that we were given an electric knife for our wedding so I was able to slice even pieces in a quick amount of time.

I know you are thinking why would 2 people need that much bread? Don’t worry it wasn’t just for us. One loaf went to a friend and two loaves were for the linger longer at church today. I froze the hamburger buns and another loaf, while we eat the remaining loaf this week.

Overall I thought it was too funny that each loaf kept getting bigger and bigger!

Gone Vegan!

2010-04-11T22:49:00.001-07:00

I wanted to do a post on why I have decided to go vegan. It may seem strange to most people but I have been vegan for the past month or so and I absolutely love it! There are a few different reasons why I have gone this route.

Not for PETA
Before I go into the details (because this post is long and I don’t blame anyone for not reading it) I wanted to make some things clear. I am not a vegan because I am a new PETA member, because I'm not. I believe that God put animals on this earth for us to care for and in times of famine we can use them for survival in a humane way. After watching Food Inc. I don’t feel comfortable with how many of the animals are raised and killed for human consumption. I do believe there are some excellent farmers out there that provide animals a great life before they become dinner. I respect them and I respect the people that support them.

I will eat your food and I will serve you meat & dairy
Also I don’t want anyone to become nervous if they have invited me over for dinner. Please make whatever you would normally make. I do not want to be known as the vegan snob everyone is scared to cook for. I am a bit of a flexatarian when it comes to dinner in someone else's home. If someone is kind enough to provide me a meal I will eat it. For example I was at someone’s house recently and they made spaghetti. The sauce had a lot of meat in it. I loaded my plate up with the side dishes of veggies, bread, took some pasta, and used the sauce lightly.
You will not starve if you eat at my dinner table either. Tyler still eats meat (which I am totally fine with and if my kids want to eat meat that is their choice and I will provide them that option. He also fully supports my choice to be vegan as well). I have found it is very simple to make one meal for us and still have both options of meat and no meat.

Digestive Issues & Eczema
For the past 2 years I have have tried to avoid dairy because I noticed that dairy upset my stomach (which I thought was normal until I was informed that it’s not normal to have your stomach hurt after you eat). It turns out that it also caused my eczema to flare up. I had a patch on my stomach and neck that I couldn’t get rid of for 2 months. I stopped my dairy intake and the eczema was gone with in 2 weeks!! Anyone that has eczema knows how frustrating it can be to go to the dermatologist and get different creams to battle the dry-itchy-bumpy-bloody-skin battle! So I no longer have stomach aches and I now have smooth skin all because dairy is out of my life. So worth it!!!
The next problem on my list was constipation (did I just admit that?). I’m sorry I am not trying to be super personal here but I would have loved to have gotten this issue straightened out soo much sooner in my life. I have had issues with not being regular my entire life. It has been quite annoying. Bloating, more stomach aches, and being uncomfortable for days is not fun. I heard from many vegetarians/vegans that they too struggled with constipation and since they have stopped eating meat/dairy they have been very regular every day! I figured it was worth a shot, and ya know what I can agree with them after about a week and a half of being vegan I have had no irregularity issues! Again so worth it!!

The Cancer Project
The Cancer Project. My mom had breast cancer (she conquered it and has been in remission for a few years now, yay!) and she has been going to a class called the Cancer Project. They use a book called The Cancer Survivor’s Guide, by Neal D. Barnard, MD and Jennifer K. Reilly, RD. The information in there was completely new to me (and I study nutrition!). It discusses how eating meat, dairy, and a high fat diet can cause cancer and other chronic illness. Studies and research are done and shown in this book. I read it and it made so much sense. I felt really good about the information I read. A few examples:
Cows milk is meant to make calves grow rapidly and when humans drink it IGF-1 (insulin like growth factor 1) enters the blood stream and causes rapid growth in cancer cells. Milk also interferes with the bodies signal to activate Vitamin D to help absorb calcium.
Dairy has a lot of fat and cholesterol, both of these things raise the cancer risk.
The hotter and longer meat is cooked the more heterocyclic amines are formed and they cause cancer.
Switching to the Vegan lifestyle and can reduce your cancer/chronic illness about 40% or more (depending how consistent you are). That is a big enough percent for me considering my mom had breast cancer, my grandmother died of stomach/throat cancer, and my grandfather died from heard disease.
Check out The Cancer Project for yourself, don't just listen to me.

The China Study
The other great resource I have is The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, PHD. This book firmly confirms what the book above states and more. This is by a man who grew up on a dairy farm eating milk and meat everyday of his life. As he studied animal protein he was shocked that it fed cancer cells while plant protein did not! He has about 40 years of research, tests, studies done over and over again in this book. This is a book that has to be read because he get into the very details of the chemistry that goes on between food body and cancer. I highly recommend these two books. The Cancer Survivor’s Guide is especially helpful because the back of the book is full of Vegan recipes that taste great. I haven’t made one yet that Tyler and I have disliked! Better yet when I went to the class at the cancer center with my mom they had samples of the recipes for everyone to try!

Overall I feel better than I have ever felt and I truly believe I am doing the best thing for my body. I am enjoying a lifestyle of whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts, veggies and fruit. I am getting more nutrients, vitamins, minerals, complete protein, calcium, and good fat in my diet. The meat, dairy, cholesterol, fat, and processed food are gone (not that I consumed a lot before but the small change has made a huge difference) and it is wonderful!

All About Bread!

2010-04-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

I put up my Soaked Whole Wheat Bread recipe on my cooking blog so if you want some healthy, light n fluffy bread fresh from the oven check it out!

A Complete Miracle

2010-03-31T11:15:00.000-07:00

On Monday I decided to drive down to the Tri-Cities to visit my parents since I was still on Spring Break. I woke up and took Tyler to school, ran some errands, packed up a bag and headed out around 1:30 in the afternoon. For some reason that day I buckled my bag into the passenger seat next to me so it wouldn't slide around. I wanted to be able to grab my water bottle and banana if I needed it while I was driving. It was raining and I have made this trip in the rain several times before so I wasn't too concerned but I did slow down. Then when I got to the pass the rain turned into a mix of snow and rain, so basically slush was hitting the windshield and the wipers couldn't keep it clear enough for me to see. Soon a Semi passed me (I was in the far left lane) on my right hand side. I was going about 55ish by this time. The spray from the Semi left me completely blind. I couldn't see the road turning so I kept driving straight and I drove into the cement barrier!
That sent me into a backspin across the 3 lanes and luckily I didn't hit any cars behind me. I had a vague memory from drivers ed about not freezing up if the car is out of control because I could get more hurt from being tense. I told myself "Oh crap,I'm in for a ride," and put my hands in my lap and tried to relax my body. The car hit the guardrail which then flipped me into the air across a ditch, another road, and I rolled a few times finally stopping in a field upside down!!!
I was dangling from the seat belt and seemed to be ok except for the blood coming out of my nose and mouth. So I put one hand on the ceiling of the car (which was now my floor), unbuckled the seat belt with my other hand and lowered myself down. I pulled on my door handle and the door opened fine so I got out of the car with out any problems. I grabbed a handful of snow and put it on my nose while I grabbed my bag I had packed and put on my coat and gloves.
I then figured I should find my phone to call 911, as I was looking a snow plow pulled up and asked if I was ok and if anyone else was in the car. I said I was fine, no one else was with me, and I need to find my phone to call 911. He said he already called and that help was on its way. He gave me a handkerchief and I put snow in it to hold on my nose. I told him I needed my phone to call my husband and tried crawling back in the car and he pulled me out and said I'd get cut up so just use his cell. I called Tyler and left a message because he was still in class. I made sure to be very calm stating that I wrecked the car and I only cut my lip.
Another snow plow showed up and some sort of work truck and an emergency vehicle with firefighters showed up quickly as well.
I hopped out of the truck I was sitting in to stay warm and told the fire fighters that I was ok. They looked at the car then back at me and then at the freeway and asked me how it was possible that I was walking?! They escorted me to their ambulance and started poking me and asking me a lot of questions. They asked me if I knew how long I blacked out and I told them that I didn't. He then checked my eyes and sure enough no signs of a concussion. He then said, "So you were alert the entire time? It looks like the car flew about 130 feet to end up here from the freeway. I have been doing this for 5 years and have never seen anyone walk away from a roll over like that."
Another ambulance from a different county showed up (apparently I was between 2 counties so 2 ambulances showed up) When the firemen opened the doors the paramedics started freaking out and asking why I wasn't strapped down with a neck brace on. They said that I had walked up to them, they checked me out and I had no injuries except for a cut lip. My heart rate, blood pressure, bones and everything else was perfect, like nothing had happened. (and they checked me from head to toe twice over!)
The paramedics weren't convinced and said that was for the ER to determine. So the strapped me down, put a neck brace on me and sent me to the Snoqualmie hospital (I think that is the one, they kept changing their mind). I wrecked the car by Exit 52 or 54 at about 3:15 pm. Tyler's class let out early (which Never happens) So he got my message, hopped on the bus and called the snow plow driver back. I guess the snow plow driver gave Tyler more to be concerned about than my calm message. So Tyler was confused and not sure who to believe. Our wonderful friends the Burnette's let Tyler borrow their car to drive to the hospital. When he arrived he told me the snow was so crazy he hoped he didn't wreck!
When I got to the ER there were several nurses waiting for me. They said a Dr. was coming down and that he would look me over and then they would do X-Rays and a CT scan. I told them I really didn't think I needed them. They told me "you've just been in a really bad roll over accident, you need them." Well, the Dr came and slowly took off the neck brace and slowly unstrapped me and wouldn't let me move until he had checked an area very well. Like the fire fighters he kept going over the same areas asking me if it hurt and I kept telling him no, nothing hurt. He stitched up my lip and said that he'd never sent anyone in this kind of accident home with out x-rays and a ct scan but sure enough I didn't need them.
As I was signing the papers to leave I saw Tyler pull up and run inside. He gave me the best hug ever and I didn't want to let him go. Seeing the concern on his face made me want to cry. I hadn't cried during any parts of the accident but knowing that Tyler was there with me brought out my emotions. I just love him soo much!
We decided it would be best for me to spend the rest of the week with my parents in the Tri-Cities so we called my parents and met them half way in Ellensburg at the Pilot gas station/Subway. I took a bath with Epsom salts that night and when I woke up on Tuesday I wasn't sore at all! Plus there wasn't a single bruise or scratch on me. I just felt like I had played a rough basketball game and some ones elbow had split my lip open.
One thing I know for sure is that my Heavenly Father was watching over me that day. Just a little farther down there road there is a bridge, I could have ended up in a lake or over a cliff. Also, I'm certain that there were some guardian angels with me because even when I was flying through the air I felt very calm. Plus I don't have a single scratch, bruise, or sore muscle. All of the windows were broken except for the windshield but the glass didn't ever touch me. All I have is a split lip and that was from my own teeth when either the airbag or steering wheel hit my face. I was told I would get 2 black eyes from where my nose was hit really hard but that didn't happen either. I feel extremely blessed and loved that my Heavenly Father wants me to stay on this earth with my family and friends and to serve the people around me anyway I can. I hope I can make him proud!

Excited for Fall !!!

2010-03-17T21:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am excited for it to be fall already!! And that is saying something considering Summer is my favorite season. This is because I have been accepted to Bastyr University!!
(as long as I pass chem 161 and 162....but lets not think about that right now....)
I will complete the following program in 2 years:

Bachelor of Science with a Major in Nutrition and Culinary Arts

As one of the nation’s first degree programs of its kind, the nutrition and culinary arts program will be offered starting in the 2009-2010 academic year and will combine the rigorous sciences of human metabolism, nutrition and food with a full spectrum of culinary skill development. Students enrolled in this program will receive an education founded in nutrition and food science, while also developing culinary skills and an understanding of the therapeutic aspects of food.
With a whole-food philosophy at its core, this innovative degree will prepare graduates for enhanced career opportunities in areas that require knowledge of both nutrition and the culinary arts.

It was bound to happen...

2010-02-07T22:12:00.000-08:00

Yup I've started another blog all about fresh and healthy food!
www.cookinkkitchen.blogspot.com
Check it out!

Kathryn: Tatum or Giada?

2010-01-29T15:00:00.001-08:00

“It's Doppelgänger week.. during this week, change your profile picture to someone famous (actor, musician, athlete, cartoon character) you've been told you look like...post this to your profile and message your friends with it!”

That is the latest facebook status flying around. So I thought it would be fun to do a blog on it. There are two famous women I have been told that I resemble. First the lovely Tatum O’Neal and secondly Giada De Laurentiis the beautiful Italian chef on Food Network. Well both are generous complements!

With Tatum I can see the eyes, nose and head shape. Her eyebrows have more arch and she has more length on her chin than I do.

Giada and I both have the curly hair, big grin and head shape. I think her eyes are larger and more almond shaped than mine.

Camel Back, Mesa Temple Lights, & Blessing

2010-01-02T23:23:00.001-08:00

We had a lot of fun this Christmas we stayed with my parents in Kennewick and played games and built snowmen. Then we traveled to Arizona and chased kids, hiked Camel Back, went to the Mesa Temple, and best of all got to be with Tyler's wonderful family as his new neice Ava Lucia was blessed!

Here we are on top of Camel Back, it was a great hike and some parts were a big stretch for my little legs!

Great view

Someone felt festive and decorated a Christmas Bush at the top
Tyler, J.P., and Alex

Three wise men and camels at the Mesa Temple Christmas lights

I could have gone every night. Pretty music and lights while I hold my husband's hand that is my kind of night

I really liked the purple lights they were so magical

Found the star!

Beautiful Temple

We were walking around and saw this super long hair!

Tyler's beautiful sister Mary Ann with her lovely new daughter Ava Lucia. So glad we were there for her special blessing.

Tyler has such a fun loving family we were very grateful for the time we were able to spend with them. They were more than generous and we hope they know how much we love and appreciate them. Thanks for a wonderful Christmas Break!

Papago Park!

2010-01-02T23:05:00.000-08:00

We had a fun time playing around Papago Park in Arizona. Tyler's nephew Braden is the most athletic two year old I have ever met. He was climbing all over and was soo upset to leave. I was very impressed. My sis-in-law Anna took some great pictures including the one below of Tyler and I. We had a really fun time and were very greatful the for generosity of Tyler's entire family!

Once there was a snowman...

2010-01-02T22:53:00.001-08:00

While we were visiting my parents in Kennewick it snowed so Tyler and I found my parents giant snow suits and went outside to build our very own Frosty.

All bundled up!

Tyler made his head and base
I rolled up his middle section

This picture makes me laugh

He's almost done!

My dad helped dress him up

My mom found his carrot nose and it turned out to be a great day to play in the snow!

School has taken over our lives!

2009-11-15T17:49:00.000-08:00

All the grrovy guys at the 70's theme Halloween Party

We did have a little fun and took a break from our studies for Halloween which is one of my favorite holidays! Any time I get to dress up I'm in! Our friends Dustin and Sally hosted the party and it was a big success!
All the Foxy ladies striking a pose!

Will Seth pass on his famous fro to his little guy?

The Picketts, Dustin, and friends passed some cards around the table

Sally is one groovy momma!

Kathy gave a class on women's domestic skills during the 70's

Emily showed off her colorful jumpsuit at the party!

Emily and John enjoyed some refreshments and John should definetly style his hair like this more often!

I convinced Tyler to wear a wig and now he knows what its like to be blonde!

Here we are as a 70's couple!

Here I am in my outfit! the dress was $6 and the shoes were $3 and it turned out great!

I decided to save $50 bucks and cut my own hair. I was nervous but I think it turned out ok!

Since it's curly mistakes are more difficult to see ; )

Tyler worked really hard on a research project this summer and I was able to see everyone present their projects! They all did really well!

Dean's project was selected to represent UW at the national AADR Meeting held in Washington D.C. Good job Dean!

Here is Brady with his project, it looks great!

Tyler and his project

I've really enjoyed making corn tortillas to have with tacos lately. They are delicious and make the house smell wonderful!

Other News: My brother Nathan married his Sweetheart Kate on September 19th! Luckily I made it home for the occasion. They were married in the LDS Temple in Richland, WA. Kate is beautiful, funny, and so sweet! Plus she has the most adorable little girl named Brooklyn, I am so grateful to have them as part of the family. I forgot my camera but Kates sister, Courtney is a professional photographer and took some amazing pictures that can be seen on her blog: http://www.vintagegingerpeaches.com/2009_09_01_archive.html

Goodbye Wyoming see you next summer!

2009-09-26T09:34:00.000-07:00

So this is the final blog about my trip to Wyoming and I have the pictures in reversed order, sorry. Here goes, the picture about is of my Uncle Eric's new Dental Practice in Nampa, ID. It is really nice. Next summer I want to take Tyler because he would appreciate seeing things like the digital x-ray and the labs.

We arrived at Eric's place on Friday around 10:00 pm I believe. So Friday was a long day of traveling. It helped that we stopped every 3 hours or so to stretch, grab a bite to eat, or sight see. On Saturday morning Vicki had quite the spread laid out for everyone! Banana muffins, hard boild eggs, variety of fruit, and bacon. There was plenty to go around, it certianly got us ready to travel home!
We stopped at Rexburg as we traveled from Wyoming to Boise. I was at the ground breaking for the temple but hadn't been back to see the actual building. I couldn't believe how BIG it is! When I went to school there I often stopped at a place called Great Harvest Bread Co. to get my taste of home made bread. I made sure we stopped there again, good memories.

When we left Wyoming Grandma came with us. We drive through Boise and since my Uncle lives in Nampa she was going to stay there for a while. However we always drive through Yellowstone on our way home. It's a pretty drive and this time we stopped to see Old Faithful shoot sky high. Something I haven't seen for many years. Plus there is nothing like a picnic in the park!

Old Faithful getting ready. It was fun to walk around and see all of the different license plates. Everywhere from Canada to Florida and inbetween!

I want to take a moment to share some things I learned about my delightful Grandmother Mildred Asay. I always thought my love for hot spicy food came from my parents, which I'm sure it did; however I now know that my mom got that from Mildred. I was making fresh salsa while we were down there and wasn't sure if I could make it spicy or not. Mildred let me know to put all of the jalapenos in the salsa (I put 5 in) and when we were eating it she mentioned it could use more! Very impressive.

I think most people know by now I really enjoy exercise. Turns out I don't fall too far from the tree. Mildred still mows her own lawn (cross my fingers my health will allow me that luxery when I reach that age). My mom was also telling me how she recalls that Mildred often went for a long walk after dinner.

Mildred also has an impressive knowledge of Nutrition. I can certianly appreciate this since I am going to school to become a dietitian. I had some very enjoyable talks with her while I was there on this topic and look forward to have many more. Mom even showed me here alfalfa pills that was one of the first forms of "superfood."

I believe her hearing is better than mine! My mom and I were discussing something a few rooms away and Mildred commented on what we were saying! (again crossing my fingers I inherit here genes!)

Good food is something you will be treated to if you visit Mildred. She taught me how to make the best pie crust, apple dumplings, and many more treats! I was also able to do alot of canning with here while I was there. Peaches, Apple sauce, and tomatoes were completed by the time we left. I am excited to do my own applesauce when they go on sale this fall!

As she raised her 9 kids on a farm she cooked mostly from scratch. Sour krout, cottage cheese, grinding wheat, and canning were all common place. However I was most impressed that they raised chickens, killed/cleaned them, plucked the feathers, and cooked them up! I would love to raise chickens for eggs but I don't think I could actually go through the above process in order to eat one!

We both love tea! She has the cutest little tea pot. Seattle has a lot of fun health stores so I am going to go scavaging for som fun tea that I can send to her.

I have never in my life heard of Salt Rising Bread. But I heard some great stories about it while I was there. Apparently it's an old pioneer recipe. The start for it has to be kept at a constant tempurature around 110 degrees and I guess the smell is rather interesting?! I might get brave and try and make it this winter. Back to the story it was my Grandfather's favorite bread. He had purchased 2 loaves of it on his way to visit some friends. His Bishop was there and Harris (my Grandpa) mentioned that he couldn't wait to have a slice of the salt rising bread when he got home. The Bishop commented on how much he liked salt rising bread also. When Harris got home he pulled out his bread and it had "mysteriously" turned into regular bread instead of his salt rising bread! I thought that was a pretty good trick! Although I'm sure I wouldn't be too happy if someone switched my favorite bread on me!

I am so grateful for the opportunity I had this summer to get to know my Grandmother. It's a 14 hour drive from Tri-Cities to Lovell so we weren't able to make the trip that often growing up. Especially when the car has 3 crazy boys and a little girl that gets car sick after an hour. I do apologize to Erik for the times I was sick and he had to sit by me. I'm actually surprised that we were able to make the trip at all.

Still Wyoming...

2009-09-25T16:03:00.000-07:00

Thursday I mowed Grandma's lawn. Guess what she is 93 and still mows her own lawn. Amazing!!! I hope I can be like her when I am 93. Dad and I went to the swimming pool and I was super excited to use the high dive, it was my favorite thing when I was younger. When we got their though the life guard was leaving early for football practice and closed up the pool so I missed out. Maybe next summer. We went to visit my Grandpa's grave, you can see my great granparents grave behind me.

After dinner we went to the farm and hiked around the foothills by Sheep Mt. I really like this pic of my mom and dad, they are so cute!

Shot of the farm land

It's are really pretty place to hike around!

I would love to come read in this spot. As long as the rattlesnakes don't bother me lol!

Love the rocks with Lichen on them so pretty

Cool cliff split

Surprised at how pretty the sunset was!

After the sunset we went to the farm to visit with my Uncle Stan and Aunt Jan and their kids. We got to meet Daniel's fiance she is darling and I am so excited for them. Jacob is a sweetheart. He came over for dinner one night and I enjoyed talking with him and hearing his stories. Michael has a lovely wife and kids they also made us the best apple cider I've ever had! Jared was pretty worn out from football when we arrived but he always has a smile on his face. Matthew and Christian don't live close enough to stop by for a quick visit so maybe I'll catch them next time. Overall I had a wonderful trip and I can't wait until next summer to go again!

Also In Wyoming...

2009-09-24T21:13:00.000-07:00

I promise I am NOT choking the dog! The pic just makes it look like I am.
Whenever I visit the farm there is a new dog (or so it seems) This time it was Angus! I wanted to take him home with me really bad!

Grandma and I picking from the famous Charlamae apple tree, No other apple tastes like this one. It's an old fashioned apple but if you can find it you gotta try it. Delish!

Billings, Montana Temple

Mom and Dad in front of the Billings, Montana Temple

Woke up early on Wednesday to go to the Temple in Billings, Montana. It is in a gorgeous location! After that we grabbed some lunch and did some shopping with Grandma. When we got back "home" we canned peaches, applesauce, and made some popcorn out of the same pot Grandma used to make popcorn when my mom was a little girl. I should have gotten a picture of the pot it was something else!

Pops, Momma, and Grandma

2 new favorite things

2009-09-16T21:17:00.000-07:00

Ok so this picture is sooo adorable, but it's not one of my new favorite things. In fact I look at t alot because it always without a doubt makes me smile. Seriously baby bobcat + baby deer. I think it could make a grown man shed a few tears of joy! The back story is there was a fire somewhere and all the animals were fleeing their natural habitat. The person that took this pic walked into their garage and saw these two cuties finding safety from the fire.

My two new favorite things: Love, Love, Love this site http://www.eatbetteramerica.com/ gotta check it out! Also I really enjoyed this article http://www.prevention.com/25healthyfoods/?cm_mmc=Spotlight-_-09112009-_-Nutrition%20and%20Recipes-_-25%20Ridiculously%20Healthy%20Foods Regarding 25 healthy foods and WHY they are healthy for you!

Trip to Lovell part 1

2009-09-12T22:38:00.000-07:00

At the end of August I was able to go to Lovell, Wyoming with my parents! My Mom grew up on a farm there. It's amazing how pleasant the trip was with out my brothers torturing me the entire 13 hours it takes to drive there. It actually went by very quickly. We listened to music, books on cd, had some good conversation, and of course stopped at Wheat Montana!

My parents stocked up on wheat, I got huckleberry syrup, and my Dad and I split a cinnamon roll. If you stop by Wheat Montanan you have to get one, it's the best cinnamon roll you'll ever eat!

When we arrived I couldn't believe how fast it took me back to my childhood! The last time I had gone to Lovell was when I was 16 years old and I am 23 now sooo it's been way too long! I took a bunch of pictures to capture my childhood! This is a painting done by my uncle Gaylen Asay. I want him to paint a lovely piece like this one for each room in my house!

This is Grandma Asay's sitting room and I always felt very grown up here.

The Grandfather Clock. I used to play by this a lot.

Love this wall.

Front of the house

I always felt like I was in a castle on that staircase!

Love brick

It's just like I remember it when I was little : )

This is a wasp's nest, my dad and I took care of it!

As you can see no more wasps on the nest they are "sleeping" on the ground : )

Classic. This is my grandma's wheat grinder. Oh and I have a wheat grinder now as well, all thanks to Tyler's Mom. Very Generous and I'll do a special blog about that later.

This is a coffee grinder that my Grandma uses for a course grind instead of a fine one for flour. It makes some great cracked wheat!

My dad worked hard while we were there. Here he is filling some cracks with concrete to keep the mice out!

1st half of August!

2009-09-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

I grew Basil this year! I decided to recycle old milk jugs cut them in half and grew plants in them. I did about 4 jugs so Tyler and I enjoyed some really good food. We love Pesto! I am going to try to grow basil in my window this winter and am crossing my fingers for some success! I wish I could have it year round!

Me at Cannon Beach! Grandma Carol and her family had a family reunion on the Oregon Coast and we had a fun time! Walked the beach, ate saltwater taffy, and had a fire on the beach!

Here is Tyler in front of the famous "Hay stacks"

We had a fiesta with the Burnettes and our neighbor Rick! The Burnettes made a really great meat dish with olives as well as some fantastic gaucamole, Rick served up some good mexican rice with avocados, and I did salsa, jalpeno poppers, a fruit tray, and fresh mint lemonade! It was pure heaven! Mexican is in the top 3 of being my favorite cuisine with all the hot spicy flavors and fresh veggies!

Healthy Jalapeno Poppers! I have the recipe on my facebook cooking site! These are soo good! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=244980&id=534555636&l=6436a7970a

I really like pretty things!

Fresh homeade Salsa! I used veggies from my parents garden and my dad's wonderful salsa recipe! I could eat this everyday!

If you have fresh mint (very easy to grow by the way) add it to lemonade and have a very refreshing treat!

Here was the set up. You gotta have a fiesta outside on a sunny day right? Oh and that is Michael in his bumbo chair looking right at the camera, so cute!!

Tyler is ready to EAT!!

Fiesta Time!!

My wonderful friend Valeria and I went out to Panera bread after we finished our Math final on August 21st!!! We survived and only have one more math class to take! By the way I have 3 more quarters at NSCC and then I am off to Bastyr!! Soooo excited!!

Cooking in Kathryn's Kitchen

2009-09-05T09:25:00.001-07:00

So I enjoy cooking. Particularly healthy fun food. Now and then I post what is going on in my kitchen on this blog. I will keep doing that but I have also posted a link on sites I enjoy called Cooking in Kathryn's Kitchen. It's linked to my facebook so you can see all the pics of things I have done. I don't have recipes up for all of them. However I can easily post recipes if anyone is interested. Here is quick access to the link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=244980&id=534555636&l=6436a7970a

Swimming with Sharks

2009-08-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

Well anyone who knows Tyler and I would agree that we live for adventure. We went down to Seaside OR for a family reunion last weekend. Turn's out we had an adventure and didn't even know it! On Saturday morning we went to the outlet mall to do some shopping. While we were shopping a person was out kayaking and bumped into a 16 foot great white shark. He paddled back to shore and alerted the life gaurd so all swimmers/surfers were pulled out of the water. Tyler and I were completely unaware of the whole situation. So when we got back I was really excited to go swimming even though it was going to be freezing! As I ran into the water I kept thinking wow this water is warm, it's not even cold! So Tyler and I played around in the water riding the waves and such for quite some time since the water was so warm. I would've stayed in longer but we had to hurry back and get ready for a big family dinner. That night I told everyone how surprised I was that the water was soo warm! In return they said yeah it's warm thats why there are sharks and you might not want to go swimming, didn't you hear about the kayaker today? We were pretty doubtful that the kayaker actually saw a shark, a great white for that matter. If we had stayed longer I would have jumped back into the water! Then on Monday we saw this in the news: http://www.kptv.com/travelgetaways/20343004/detail.html

a 12 foot shark was caught off the Oregon Coast. Ummm apparently the kayker was right? So Tyler and I got to swim with sharks and we didn't even know it.

Blackberry Jam

2009-08-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

If you want the GOOD blackberries you will bleed for them
When you make jam get everthing ready so you can just boil, mix, pour, and tighten the lids! The long part is simply waiting for the water in the left pot to boil. gotta make sure those jars are sanitized and then you gotta process the jam afterwards.

It's so pretty once it gets going! and makes your home smell nice as well! The recipe I chose was sugar free as well! I used Splenda to substitute and it turned out soo good!

Give them time to set and listen for all the lids to pop then press them to make sure they are sealed! My jars were each 8 oz and I filled up 6 in this first batch!

Plum Pizza with Goat Cheese

2009-07-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

Yes you read correctly this is plum pizza with goat cheese! I found the recipe in Natural Health (a magazine I enjoy) It turned out really good. Even I was skeptical about mixing such flavors. Tyler said it tasted like dessert. I'll admit it was sweeter than I thought it would be (and there wasn't any sugar added mind you) It is plum season and they are a great source of calcium, so be daring and give this a try!

family and blackberries

2009-07-29T14:14:00.001-07:00

Tyler and I have settled into a new home! We moved into the Burnette's mother-in-law/daylight basement! We spent a lot of time painting it before we moved in so I'll have to do a tour with the camera and show you the inside. We absoultely love it! We have more space, washer/dryer, get to share a back yard, get to take George on walks (their awesome dog), and a friendly quiet neighborhood. It's bliss!
There is a giant rock in the backyard so while my parents came to visit last weekend I insisted on taking some rock pics.

My parents with their grown up daughter, crazy....

So it has been quite warm lately and the blackberries are super early this year. So I woke up this morning and went out to start my picking. I'm hoping to go every morning until they are gone! It was so warm at 7:00 am that the bag had steamed up by the time I got home.

Tyler guessed I picked about 2-3 lbs. And this is just round 1! I cleaned and froze this first batch. The next ones I pick and going to be for jam!

Sarah's Wedding

2009-07-16T20:54:00.001-07:00

I drove down to the Tri-Cities on the 9th of July. It was my first time ever doing that trip all by myself! Tyler had to stay and help out at the hospital otherwise he would have joined me. My dad left that weekend as well so my momma and I were on the go from morning till sunset! As much as I missed Tyler (which really is a lot I love that guy!) I could have stayed the whole week for some extra mother/daughter fun! My lovely mother and I had the chance to get all dressed up and attend my friend Sarah's wedding. It was Spectacular!
Waterfall at the wedding. Everything looked beautiful!

Sarah looked absolutely amazing!!!

Sarah's husband to be, Andy (right) is waiting for his bride

Her veil was my favorite thing!

Especially with a flower in it!

Look at her boquet!

Just about to have their first kiss as husband and wife!

It's official, they are married!

Now it's time for the mingling! Sam, Julia, and Melissa were all there. I used to work with these fine ladies and miss them more than they know!

And Tiffany made it too! By the way she has some serious sewing skills that dress is all hers!

The best Bobbi Brown team there ever was!

Brides always have hte cutest shoes!

We were given fans to "cool off" as the tempurature was 103

Great company! and notice the confetti in the background? When they anounced that Sarah and Andy are now husband and wife confetti shot out over the entire audiance!

So happy for this beautiful bride and glad I got to share this memorable day with her!

Chinook Pass

2009-07-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago Tyler and I drove over to Chinook Pass and met my Parents, Brother, and sis-in-law for a little hike
There was a really cute lodge up there, it wasn't open yet so I didn't get to peek inside. If I were to go back I would try to sneak behind a tree to do my business because the port-o-potties were so bad I thought the stench was gonna knock me out!

Mom and Pop brought a picnic for us!

Tyler and Amy waiting to make their Hoagie Sandwhich

Pretty Mt. Rainier in the background. This was the Monday after Erik had ran the marathon on Saturday. He and Amy went hiking they are amazing!

The ladies! Amy, my Momma, and I enjoying a lovely day!

I love a good view!

Fun shot of my dad taking pics in the snow and my family on the dry part. It's crazy how it can be soo sunny yet still have snow lying around

Hiking around!