This is my anthem these days!
Love this song and something about it reminds me of being a kid again.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Excerpt: Tough Week
For the past 5 weeks I have been doing Weight Watchers online. I am doing well with it, and have been keeping a blog there, and in the meantime have been forgetting to post here. So...here is an excerpt from todays' entry on my WW blog.
"So the past week has been very tough here in our household. Over the past three years I have of course had hard days, what with my father having cancer and my grandfather passing away, with job changes and everything else. This week though has been a doozy to say the least.
I have realized more strongly than ever how different it is to know someone is dying and to have your opportunity to say your goodbyes and make your peace with their death, compared with the shock of having someone here one day and gone the next. Unfortunately, Christophers "uncle" Mike died of a heart attack suddenly (and we hope in his sleep) sometime Sunday night or Monday morning. He was an employee for a contractor in Iraq and was on his way home from there when two men found him on a bus in Bagdad. We got the news Tuesday morning, and even though Chris' stepdad isn't his biological father, Chuck is the man who raised him and the man I credit with why Chris is who he is and the man I love. Mike was Chucks' best friend. Since high school these guys were best friends. They both served in the military, they both rode choppers, they even lived together for awhile before Mike went to work in Iraq.
It has been very difficult to process and it is excruitiatingly hard to know how much Chuck and Chris and the entire family is hurting.
It reminds me to cherish every day with the ones I love.
It reminds me that while I might be on WW and losing weight, I can still splurge. Life as I know it can include birthday cake(and it will this week, twice!) and cool ranch doritos or whatever other food is being had at a party. I can enjoy life and the ones I love and monitor my eating and my weight at the same time.
Because knowing that it could all be over tomorrow makes me want to live today completely and taste every little thing I can. I also know I don't want to die fat. So I make changes. In portion and activity level I trust, because without those I am just the before Crystal. The Crystal who hadn't lost 5% of her body weight in 5 weeks.
So I suppose my lesson this week to share is that life is tough, sometimes it is harder than you ever dreamed it could be, sometimes life will break your heart and make you cry for days. It's real life, but in real life we DO get to make our choices and we CAN become the person we dream of being. Even if not everyone we love will get to see the final result of all our hard work.
It's a big lesson, and a hard one to learn, but it's well worth it."
"So the past week has been very tough here in our household. Over the past three years I have of course had hard days, what with my father having cancer and my grandfather passing away, with job changes and everything else. This week though has been a doozy to say the least.
I have realized more strongly than ever how different it is to know someone is dying and to have your opportunity to say your goodbyes and make your peace with their death, compared with the shock of having someone here one day and gone the next. Unfortunately, Christophers "uncle" Mike died of a heart attack suddenly (and we hope in his sleep) sometime Sunday night or Monday morning. He was an employee for a contractor in Iraq and was on his way home from there when two men found him on a bus in Bagdad. We got the news Tuesday morning, and even though Chris' stepdad isn't his biological father, Chuck is the man who raised him and the man I credit with why Chris is who he is and the man I love. Mike was Chucks' best friend. Since high school these guys were best friends. They both served in the military, they both rode choppers, they even lived together for awhile before Mike went to work in Iraq.
It has been very difficult to process and it is excruitiatingly hard to know how much Chuck and Chris and the entire family is hurting.
It reminds me to cherish every day with the ones I love.
It reminds me that while I might be on WW and losing weight, I can still splurge. Life as I know it can include birthday cake(and it will this week, twice!) and cool ranch doritos or whatever other food is being had at a party. I can enjoy life and the ones I love and monitor my eating and my weight at the same time.
Because knowing that it could all be over tomorrow makes me want to live today completely and taste every little thing I can. I also know I don't want to die fat. So I make changes. In portion and activity level I trust, because without those I am just the before Crystal. The Crystal who hadn't lost 5% of her body weight in 5 weeks.
So I suppose my lesson this week to share is that life is tough, sometimes it is harder than you ever dreamed it could be, sometimes life will break your heart and make you cry for days. It's real life, but in real life we DO get to make our choices and we CAN become the person we dream of being. Even if not everyone we love will get to see the final result of all our hard work.
It's a big lesson, and a hard one to learn, but it's well worth it."
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Mest, Good Charlotte & Goldfinger - The Innocent (Live)
I am posting this for two reasons. 1 cause it's 9/11 and well, that's what this song is about. Also for Steph cause I know we have talked about this event and I told her I would one day find the video of the guy eating it when trying to stage dive into the crowd during GC/Mest's performance of "The Innocent"
From back when NRK was 100% more awesome than it is now.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Self taught AKA how I learn the hard way
I bought myself whole wheat flour. I did not go the smart route and get the whole wheat pastry flour, oh no, I got regular whole wheat flour.
I mixed it in a 2:1 ratio with left over white flour I had in the cupboard.
This was not the right ratio, as I found out when the biscuits I made turned out like rocks.
Okay, so they weren't rocks, they were somewhat edibile(with a ton of butter, which I guess cancels out the health benefits altogether) but Christopher wouldn't eat them, so of course most of them went bad.
Now, I am making it a point to do a bit of research before I go off trying new ingredients. It isn't going too badly, so far.
I'll try biscuits again and let you know the result.
As of right now I'm waiting on some slow cooked pork ribs in the oven, hopefully they turn out as good as usuall. See normally I use sauce, especially when baking ribs instead of grilling. Today I decided to try a dry rub and see what happens. So I dry rubbed the heck out of these puppies, poured some water in the bottom of the broiler pan and covered them in foil. If all goes well I will have pictures to add to this entry in a few short hours.
If not I'll blame the internet for giving me this haphazard idea!
I mixed it in a 2:1 ratio with left over white flour I had in the cupboard.
This was not the right ratio, as I found out when the biscuits I made turned out like rocks.
Okay, so they weren't rocks, they were somewhat edibile(with a ton of butter, which I guess cancels out the health benefits altogether) but Christopher wouldn't eat them, so of course most of them went bad.
Now, I am making it a point to do a bit of research before I go off trying new ingredients. It isn't going too badly, so far.
I'll try biscuits again and let you know the result.
As of right now I'm waiting on some slow cooked pork ribs in the oven, hopefully they turn out as good as usuall. See normally I use sauce, especially when baking ribs instead of grilling. Today I decided to try a dry rub and see what happens. So I dry rubbed the heck out of these puppies, poured some water in the bottom of the broiler pan and covered them in foil. If all goes well I will have pictures to add to this entry in a few short hours.
If not I'll blame the internet for giving me this haphazard idea!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Half a Lifetime
So I haven't updated in awhile, don't be upset I had a fantastic reason! Family!
That's right, we had family in town to visit. My dad's family to be exact. His mother and older brother flew in from Chicago. I haven't seen them in 15 years! That's half of my lifetime! Crazy I know! It gets better. They haven't been out here to the west coast to visit since the late 1980's. I think my uncle may have been in town on business when I was around 12, but he only stopped by for a couple hours before he had to jump on a plane and leave again. I must say it was very wonderful to see them again.
Here are a few pictures from the BBQ we had yesterday to send them off.
 |
| Uncle David, Myself, my 'little' brother Mac Mom, Grandmother and Dad September 1, 2010'   the pit master!  waiting on dinner |
Friday, August 6, 2010
Things I Love, and You Should Too.
These are a few of my favorite things!
Aside from the obvious things, like my cats, my family & my boyfriend. Aside from the typical(chocolate, ice cream, vacation time, sleeping in) these are some of the things I love.
1)Coming home or waking up to a clean house. It just puts my whole world back in happyville.
2)Warm from the oven bread. Any kind will do; french, sourdough, banana, zuchinni.
3)Berries fresh from the farmers market.
4)Greek yohgurt, it's an awesome substitute for sour cream and other dense creamy things in recipes.
5)Agave nectar, it's awesome in place of sugar or simple syrup.
6)Epsom salts. Old fashioned I know, but they make my bath into a home spa!
7)Homemade sugar scrub. So cheap, so easy, SO indulgent!
8)My Ninja blender. This thing makes easy work of so many things, from smoothies & margaritas to salsa and more.
9)Mizythra cheese. If you happen to have an Old Spahgetti Factory nearby, lucky you! You can have Spahgetti a la Homer (the only place I know that makes it) but mizythra with spahgetti in browned butter is only one way to indulge in this fabulous cheese. It is nutty and salty and a little goes a long way in pasta, salads and more! Use it the same way you would fresh parmesan.
10)Butter lettuce, otherwise known as boston bibb lettuce. More nutritious than iceberg, sweeter and more tender than romain, I love this lettuce in everything from salads to sandwhiches!
Those are ten off the top of my head for now, I'll add more in another entry.
Aside from the obvious things, like my cats, my family & my boyfriend. Aside from the typical(chocolate, ice cream, vacation time, sleeping in) these are some of the things I love.
1)Coming home or waking up to a clean house. It just puts my whole world back in happyville.
2)Warm from the oven bread. Any kind will do; french, sourdough, banana, zuchinni.
3)Berries fresh from the farmers market.
4)Greek yohgurt, it's an awesome substitute for sour cream and other dense creamy things in recipes.
5)Agave nectar, it's awesome in place of sugar or simple syrup.
6)Epsom salts. Old fashioned I know, but they make my bath into a home spa!
7)Homemade sugar scrub. So cheap, so easy, SO indulgent!
8)My Ninja blender. This thing makes easy work of so many things, from smoothies & margaritas to salsa and more.
9)Mizythra cheese. If you happen to have an Old Spahgetti Factory nearby, lucky you! You can have Spahgetti a la Homer (the only place I know that makes it) but mizythra with spahgetti in browned butter is only one way to indulge in this fabulous cheese. It is nutty and salty and a little goes a long way in pasta, salads and more! Use it the same way you would fresh parmesan.
10)Butter lettuce, otherwise known as boston bibb lettuce. More nutritious than iceberg, sweeter and more tender than romain, I love this lettuce in everything from salads to sandwhiches!
Those are ten off the top of my head for now, I'll add more in another entry.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Soy Vay! That's the stuff!
Oh my, recently I had the bug, the cooking bug that is. Since I've had some time off from work, I have spent a lot of time in the kitchen, not to mention at the grocery store!
My two recent creations I have fallen in love with are as follow.
My two recent creations I have fallen in love with are as follow.
Pesto Tortelini with Mushroom, garlic and tomato saute topped with my favorite, mizythra cheese
I found these awesomely tasty vegetarian tortelini's at Grocery Outlet, imported directly from Italy you know they were fabulous! I threw in a splash of sherry while cooking up the mushrooms and added the cherry tomatoes at the end just to heat them through. It was so good I had to take a picture, I was proud of myself for this dish, so simple and tasty.
Our friend Dave is a fabulous guy, and as a vegetarian he has some great recipe's that I am in love with. Tofu jerky is one of those that I've not been brave enough to attempt until now. It wasn't quite as good as Dave's, but I am certain that with more practice this will become a staple around here.
This is:
I package extra firm tofu
marinated in soy sauce, sauted till brown, cool then coat in Soy Vey teriyaki and return to pan.
The thinner you are able to slice your tofu the more like jerky it will become , (almost like a meaty texture and very firm) Please take my advice and either water down your soy sauce or use low sodium, no need to marinate it TOO long, 30 minutes will do it in fact. Be aware that any sauce is fine but that if it contains garlic or sugar it will burn, so watch your pan and if your kitchen is tiny like mine be ready for the smoke detector to scare the living daylights out of everyone in your neighborhood!
Some may not believe me but my kitchen truly is quite tiny, barely any room to open the oven door or the refridgerator. I make it work though.
My kitchen is well hung.
I am working with limited income right now, so trying to find affordable healthy & tasty food is becoming like a new adventure! I am having fun with! Tonight it's cheese quesadillas with spicy black beans and(brown) rice with my homemade mexi-corn. Tomorrow it's classic stuffed bell peppers and green salad. Haven't made a menu for friday yet.
Saturdays we traditionally have a big dinner get together with the neighbors and a bunch of friends. It is always a blast and this weekend Jenn is making her Creamy chicken and brocolli enchiladas. They are SO good! I will extract the recipe from her and post it here.
Lucky for my kitchen and my pocketbook I should be headed back to work next week!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Viva la Roadtrip
So this past weekend myself, Steph and Maria all headed south for some good food and relaxing fun. After two hours in the car and some good laughs we met our food destiny at Viva Vegetarian Food Cart in Eugene.
Oh it was goodness. That is each of us with our Viva vegan cheesesteaks.
After filling up on tasty stuff, including vegan coffee soft serve ice cream, we headed out to tour some of the covered bridges on the Lowell Covered Bridge Loop Tour.
Beautiful!
Between the three of us we got some really nice pictures of the bridges and of each other.
Don't laugh, I love that hat!
Maria, myself & Steph finishing up our beers by the river.
This was the second road trip I'd taken this summer, the first one I will look back on later(with pictures of course). Being a student again not only gives me the opportunity to meet new friends(like Steph) but to have some time off during the summer to enjoy and feel young again!
I have wonderful friends, they always know how to have a good time. We never run out of laughs and that's the best!
I came home to an empty house, as Chris was out of town for the weekend with the guys doing his DJ thing. The rest of the weekend I spent recovering from a slight sunburn and my friday roadtrip of awesome. I am keeping my fingers crossed for at least one more of these great roadtrips before classes start up again in September. I'll keep you posted!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
In The Beginning
For years I have been keeping my thoughts online in a blog, however I have come to outgrow that and am now here. I have spent years of time and effort in that blog, and have high hopes for this blog as well.
To begin, my name is Crystal, I was born and raised in Portland Oregon. I spent many years working as a nursing assistant before returning to school, getting my phlebotomy & lab assisting license and discovering my love of scientific research. Currently I am again a student, live in the Portland Metro area with my long term love, my boyfriend Christopher and our two lovely cats Cleopatra & Atreyu.
My mother's native to Seattle, her family is Scottish & Norwegian. My mother's family is very large and extended, we have had huge gatherings my whole life that consist of no less than 30 people and enough home-cooked food to feed the entire Oregon National Guard!
My father was born in Kentucky and still has roots there though he moved around most of his life and has lived all over the country, finally settling in Oregon because as he tells it "there we just so many trees!" My father is in a two and a half year battle with stage IV metastesized colon cancer. His disease and his fight has become a central part of my life and my relationship with both my parents.
I have one younger brother, Mac, who for lack of a better explanation is a recovering Meth addict who lives with my parents on their small farm in Columbia County.
I have a bunch of cousins and aunts and uncles who are regulars in my life, but those are the main characters who are a daily part of my life. I have fabulously loud, crazy, fun and entertaining neighbors who keep me smiling and laughing and mostly from ever being bored. I do not have a plethora of friends, but those I do count are good friends and have stuck by me through many different rough patches in my life.
At some point I will mention all of these people, so here I give them fair warning!
My life has been, as most I am sure, with wonderful parts and not so wonderful parts, thus the title to this blog.
I must thank Steph for turning me on to blogspot, as I was attempting to find a new place to make my internet home and she made it look easy. Probably because she is 10 times more creative than me.
To begin, my name is Crystal, I was born and raised in Portland Oregon. I spent many years working as a nursing assistant before returning to school, getting my phlebotomy & lab assisting license and discovering my love of scientific research. Currently I am again a student, live in the Portland Metro area with my long term love, my boyfriend Christopher and our two lovely cats Cleopatra & Atreyu.
My mother's native to Seattle, her family is Scottish & Norwegian. My mother's family is very large and extended, we have had huge gatherings my whole life that consist of no less than 30 people and enough home-cooked food to feed the entire Oregon National Guard!
My father was born in Kentucky and still has roots there though he moved around most of his life and has lived all over the country, finally settling in Oregon because as he tells it "there we just so many trees!" My father is in a two and a half year battle with stage IV metastesized colon cancer. His disease and his fight has become a central part of my life and my relationship with both my parents.
I have one younger brother, Mac, who for lack of a better explanation is a recovering Meth addict who lives with my parents on their small farm in Columbia County.
I have a bunch of cousins and aunts and uncles who are regulars in my life, but those are the main characters who are a daily part of my life. I have fabulously loud, crazy, fun and entertaining neighbors who keep me smiling and laughing and mostly from ever being bored. I do not have a plethora of friends, but those I do count are good friends and have stuck by me through many different rough patches in my life.
At some point I will mention all of these people, so here I give them fair warning!
My life has been, as most I am sure, with wonderful parts and not so wonderful parts, thus the title to this blog.
I must thank Steph for turning me on to blogspot, as I was attempting to find a new place to make my internet home and she made it look easy. Probably because she is 10 times more creative than me.
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