Taking Off

DH and I are off to the airport, via visiting interns, to pick up our world traveler, Austin, who has been in Korea for the last few months. How's that for a run-on sentence! I'll post when I get back.

Snap happy

Because I am at the end of the line, so to speak, with kids left at home, I tend to focus my camera more on the one that is here. I am sorry about that, but she is just so photogenic I have to take advantage. My apologies to my other three. You know I would do it to you if you were here, don't you? Plus, I need all the practice I can get on this new camera. I have only taken 1000 pictures so far, I need to take more!

So, on this ordinary day last week, I caught Miss Em on her way to somewhere.

"Stop!" I said. "You look too darn cute. I have to take your picture!"

Of course she doesn't mind.

Even if she is eating, she'll stop for a pose.

I followed her outside. She obliged me with another pose.

I didn't leave. My camera was just getting warmed up!

Enough already! I'm going!

I am like paparazzi. You never know where I might be!

Pedalling, pedalling. . .

DH and I decided today, in our quest to stay fit, to go on a bike ride. A loooonnggg bike ride. We are intending this fall to take a bike trip. I don't know what kind or how long. We haven't gotten to those particulars yet. But we have always wanted to ride our bikes over several days, stay in a nice, clean motel (my idea), eat at restaurants along the way (my idea), take long leisurely baths at the motel (my idea) and enjoy the scenery as we pedal, pedal (our idea).

So today, fresh back from a trip visiting interns where we spent hours in the car driving, it seemed like the right thing to do to take a long ride using leg power. I have been riding my bike for quite some time. About 8-10 miles on average, 3 times a week. This time we wanted to do 25 miles. We knew it would take several hours. But that's ok. I like riding with DH. He makes me go faster. So here we are just before we left. Lovely day, isn't it?

Sorry about cutting off DH's head. I do have another picture of us but it isn't very flattering of my nostrils.


Caught him by surprise! Don't leave without me! My bike is still in the truck! Uh, wait, he's on my bike. His bike is in the truck!


Does this bike make me look fat?

So we were off. Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the actual ride, because I couldn't figure out how to fit the camera in my fanny pack. We saw little lakes and small streams and lots of fields. It was very beautiful. I wish you could have been there.

So, 26 miles later (yes, we had 1 bonus mile), here I am:

Here's DH and me:

DH looks like he needs his tonsils checked!

The good news: I can still walk! I'm not sure about tomorrow though. The bad news: I can't sit. I'm off for a nice, leisurely, soak in the tub.

Flashback

Remember that scene in "Somewhere in Time" where Christopher Reeve pulls the 1982 penny from his pocket?

Of course you remember. It was the most dramatic scene of the movie, if you saw it. I did. About 10 times. Cried every time too.

Anyway, I had my own flashback moment. It wasn't a 1982 penny. It was this:

Now this may not seem that exciting. What's so great about Crest toothpaste?

Can you see the flavor? It's Citrus Splash.

Now, most people prefer to use minty toothpastes, including me. It feels fresher, cleaner. Most people prefer that.

Most people. Except Adam. He can't stand mint in anything. Gives him a stomachache. We were so happy when other flavors of toothpaste came out. This is one of his favorites.

Emily found it when she was cleaning out a suitcase he used when he went to Japan. She had just used it for something else, and somehow the toothpaste got missed. I have a vague recollection that he mentioned he couldn't find it.

She brought it up to me, put it in my hand and I had a Christopher Reeve moment. I could almost hear Adam running up the stairs, could almost hear his voice, could almost hear, "Hey, you found my toothpaste! Awesome!"

Almost.

But in the end I am left with memories and a mostly-used tube of toothpaste.

It will be safely held in my bathroom drawer until he returns.

Zucchini Wars

Anyone that grows a garden knows about zucchini plants. They are out to take over the world! At least their world. . . their plant life world. . . Case in point, my garden:

Truthfully, we have some lovely zucchini plants this year, more than we really need, and yesterday I was excited to see a great big zucchini amongst the vines and leaves.

"Oh boy", I thought. "I can make my zucchini casserole that I love. Finally. I've been waiting forever!"

So I brought it in and today is the day. Only thing is, my recipe calls for 8 cups of sliced zucchini. As I was chopping zuks today I started to get worried. I ran outside to check for any other zucchinis that I might have missed. I know they can double their size in an hour. All I could find was a teeny one that still had a flower on the end. I was desperate and grabbed it.

It looked puny next to the big guy. As long as I have 8 cups, I don't care.

I just made it! Yeah! Then I realized I'm out of Parmesan cheese. Dang! Oh well, I will improvise by just adding extra cheese. Here is the recipe. And mom, I think you can make this work for your diet as well:

Squash-Rice Casserole

8 cups sliced zucchini (about 2 1/2 lbs)
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup fat-free, less sodium chicken broth
2 cups cooked rice
1 cup fat-free sour cream (actually I use lite)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduce fat sharp cheddar cheese (umm, I use the real stuff)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350. Combine first 3 ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until tender. Drain, partially mash with a potato masher. Combine zucchini mixture, rice, sour cream, cheddar cheese, 2 tbls Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and eggs in a bowl, stir gently. Cook in a 13x9 baking dish (use lots of cooking spray!), Sprinkle with Parmesan and bake 30 minutes. Yummy!

Here's some other fresh items we are having today:

Michigan blueberries, lovingly picked by us today


Red cabbage, from our garden

Bargain Hunting

I have a love/hate relationship with shopping.

I don't like crowds of people, all fighting over merchandise.

I don't like things displayed all crunched up so you have to use extreme force to push things aside.

I don't like trying on many clothes and not being happy with how anything looks.

I like easily understandable markdowns.

I like getting good deals.

I like wearing clothes that were originally $100 and I only paid $10 for them. (Ok, I haven't bought many articles that were that much to begin with, but you know what I mean.)

So, with all these things in mind, Em and I headed out last Thursday with our Kohl's and JCPenney's coupon and went to the "presale". Don't you love those ads. . ."For our SPECIAL customers you can come early to the PRESALE." Like other people don't know about that--the whole town knows!

Anyway, back to shopping. Both Em and I had a directive that we were not going to pay full price for a single thing. In fact, we wanted to pay a lot less than full price. So we skipped the racks in the front of the store and went directly to the clearance rack. Em came out empty handed and headed to the shoes. I found a $38 shirt marked down to $3.80. It was cute. So the hunt began!

We tried on clothes, laughed at each other's outfits and came away from both stores paying just under $60 for 9 items. Not bad, eh? Here's our booty:

The deal of the day? A pair of red jeans for $3.15, regularly $40. Now she just has to be bold enough to wear them outside!

Letters from the field

Adam sent us a lovely letter. I thought I would post it here since most of my family reads my blog regularly. . . I think. I was very touched by it. Here it is:

Dear Family:

I think that you might enjoy getting a handwritten letter every once in a while. So I will try to keep it up while I am here. This week went by really fast. I can't believe that on Wednesday I will have already been here 3 weeks. I am really impatient with learning Chinese. At times I want to know everything and speak perfectly. However, once in a while I take time to ponder and realize that I have learned so much within these last 3 weeks.

The spirit is felt so strong here. There have been three times where it has really made an impact on me. The first time was the second day when we as new missionaries were watching a movie called "The District". All of a sudden I got this strong feeling of how much I wanted the young men in the ward to be here with me and experience the things I have. I really wanted the entire ward to be here with me. And just had this overwhelming desire to have the people I love to be able to experience the same thing I had.

The second time was after a Tuesday fireside. We had a district devotional. Our Branch President's wife was with us and she shared some of the stories about her husband. She told us that 5 days before this devotional he had almost died. He was having a cat scan when his heart stopped from an allergic reaction to the dye that they put in his veins. Only 5 days later he was back interviewing each one of us. I grew to love my Branch President that day because I thought he was kind of scary at first.

The third time is when one of my teachers shared his testimony. He told us how blessed we were to be on missions and how the Christmas he had on his mission was the best one he had ever had. He started to cry during his testimony and I could feel his love for missionary work and for us. His timing was perfect for me because I had a hard time at the TRC with an investigator that you probably read about in my email.

Well, I want you to know I love you guys and I am trying to make you proud every day.
Love,
Elder Hammer

Girl's camp is over and my summer begins

I am back from girl's camp, wow!

So much of my summer is spent preparing for youth conference and camp that it is hard for me to think beyond those two events. Now I am back, I have no pressing matters of business except piano once a week, and I'm not sure what to do with myself!

Camp was great. I have faith in the next generation based on the attitudes and behaviors of these girls. We didn't have any serious issues or problems. Only a few little spats in cabins, but those were easily dealt with. Our youth camp leaders were awesome. The biggest problem was the mosquitoes. Boy, were they vicious! Here's my leg to prove it:

One of those marks is from opening the car door across my calf. The rest are mosquito bites. And that is only one part of my leg!

I was walking bug bait. One night I was stationed in the woods for our night hike. I sprayed myself from head to toe, but still managed to get bit. After a while I was doing a little spasm dance trying to keep them off me. I told DH when I got home that I wasn't going to go outside for 3 days.

Other than bugs, the weather was near perfect, the women were fun to be with, and as a result I came home and slept for 3 hours. Still not completely recovered yet, but getting there! Have a great day everyone!

Be Right Back

Today I am leaving for girl's camp.

We are in a flurry of preparations right now so I can't write too much. I am hoping for:

• comfortable weather
• sweet, obedient girls
• good food, but not too much of it
• some time to relax amidst all the activities
• time with Ems
• Friday to come quickly!

Wish me luck!

Shooting some Photos

We got a new camera! It is a Nikon D40 SLR. Not the most expensive SLR there is, but lots of good reviews came with it.

It has been so fun taking pictures. Em disappears with it and comes back with some amazing shots. She is our new budding photographer. Here are some of hers:

Oh wise sagacious one!
What character, what noble thoughts!

Bee, in flight to a flower.



Our backyard stream

Bird's nest with wasp's nest inside.

I apologize if these take a long time to load. We are figuring things out one step at a time. Enjoy!

New Layout: Allie Brown's layouts

Doin' My part to save the planet

Tuesday I had a dentist appointment.

Nothing serious, just the usual cleaning. However, I have been looking for opportunities to exercise, and I thought to myself, "Hey, I could ride my BIKE to the dentist! Wouldn't that be cool! Think how much gas I would save! And it would just count as my exercise for the day! Bonus!"

Problem was, Emily had an appointment too at the same time. Could I convince her to ride too? I would have to handle it carefully.

So, here's our conversation:

Monday afternoon:
Me: "Ems, let's ride our bikes to the dentist tomorrow. It'll be fun!"
Ems: "No way mom."

Monday evening:
Me: "Hey, Em, what do you think about riding our bikes tomorrow. It would be good exericse!"
Ems: "But I'll be all sweaty and gross!"
Me: "No you won't, it's supposed to be cool tomorrow!"
Ems: "No way mom."

I was wearing her down, I knew it!

Monday before bed:
Me: "Ems, I really think we should ride our bikes tomorrow. Think of the gas we'll save!"
Ems: (exasperated) "Mom, cut it out. I'm not going."
Me: "Aw, come on. I know once we get going you'll love it!"
Ems: "No way mom."

I almost had her!!

Tuesday morning:
Me: "Ems, time to wake up. We need to get moving so we have time to ride!"
Ems: (muffled): "Mom, leave me alone. I told you I'M NOT RIDING!"

Oooh, she is gonna do it!!

Tuesday morning a wee bit later:
Me: "GET UP EM! WE ARE RIDING OUR BIKES!!!"
Ems: (groaning, and mumbling incoherently)

I gave her no choice. She had to go. Here we are:

And we're off!

About a mile into it she turned to me and said, "This is really nice. Mom, you have to make me do this, because I'll fight you every time."

I'll remember that, my girl.

We did arrive sweaty, but safely. The ride home was into the wind and a bit harder, but it was a great feeling using our body power to get us where we needed to go. And I know what you are thinking . . . it was a 10 mile round trip ride. Not too bad for an old lady, eh?