Multi-tasking

Well, the good news is: I passed my exam! I'm very glad to have that out of the way. 1 down, 6 to go. But the other 6 won't be until next school year, so I just won't think about that yet. :)

The bad news is: I learned I'm a TERRIBLE single-tasker. Now, I always knew I preferred multi-tasking, but I thought that I could choose to single-task when I needed to. I found out this past week that that is not the case. I really needed to devote almost all of my non-class time to studying for the test. So I decided ahead of time that I was just going to let everything else go: no housework, no grocery shopping, minimal cooking, etc. But when it came time to follow through, it just about killed me. It makes me so stressed to see laundry unwashed, dishes not put away, e-mails unread, etc. And having to eat pizza and sandwiches for dinner feels like some sort of personal failure, even though I know that's ridiculous. (Also, side note: Darby and I have a very fair division of labor. So all of the chores not taken care of were my responsibility, not his. And even though I'm in charge of making dinner, he NEVER complains about what we have. So any pressure I feel is totally self-imposed.)

Darby, on the other hand, is a great single-tasker. Sometimes this is a problem, as he can't put a project out of his mind until it's done, even if he really needs to do other stuff. But this week, I realized that single-tasking can be an asset, especially in grad. school. I think next time I need to study I'm going to have to go to a coffee shop or some place where I can't see the mess. Maybe I should go to a hotel (hee-hee)!

Are there any other chronic multi-taskers out there? Do you have tricks for making yourself focus on one thing when you have to?

MIA

Sorry, I've been MIA around here lately. Perhaps I'm giving myself too much credit to think anyone even noticed. :)

I am taking one of my comprehensive exams for my degree on Saturday, so I'm studying like crazy. I'll be back next week with an update. Have a great week!

What's Cookin'

One of my goals is to whittle my "to try" recipes I've saved online to under 200. So I've been trying to make quite a few new recipes. Of course, I keep adding recipes, so my progress is a little slow. :) Here are some of the favorites I've tried recently:

• Crockpot Refried Beans. I LOVE beans, and these are so easy. You don't even have to soak the beans beforehand, which saves a lot of time. I made a double batch (without doubling the salt, as Darby and I try to limit our salt), and mashed half and froze the other half.
  
• Baked Oatmeal. I'm not much of an oatmeal fan (texture), but this stuff turns out almost cake-like. As suggested, I subbed unsweetened applesauce for half of the butter. One serving is 7 Weight Watchers points, which isn't terrible, but I might try to reduce the sugar next time I make it to bring the points down even more.
  
• Mint-Filled Brownie Cupcakes. These were made pre-Weight Watchers (I don't even want to know how many points are in these babies!), and they were soooo good! Extremely rich. If you like chocolate and mint, you have to try them.
• Mexican Chicken Kiev. I'm a sucker for stuffed chicken recipes, and this one did not disappoint. The chicken turns out so flavorful and moist. And this was my first foray into the world of Panko crumbs. They are sooo much better than regular bread crumbs; I can't believe I lived without them for so long.

Enjoy!

Look what I got!

My friend Kalyn is an artist and recently started an etsy shop. One of Kalyn's blogger friends did a giveaway of the beautiful piece above, and I won! I just got it in the mail the other day, and I love it! I'm so proud of Kalyn for starting her own business. She has a lot of charming (and affordable!) pieces in her shop, so go check it out.

Spring Break, Part Two

Britt and I headed back to Champaign on Sunday afternoon for a special ACU group gathering. Daniel's parents, who are wine connoisseurs, were in town, and they graciously agreed to host a wine tasting for our ACU group (oh, the irony). Daniel, Liz, and Daniel's parents prepared quite a feast for us, and we got to try 8 or so different wines. It was so fun, and I feel like I have a better grasp of the characteristics of some of the different types and a better idea of which "supermarket" wines are relatively good.

Erin and Liz

Monday, Britt and I did some shopping and then took it easy watching episodes of Scrubs on Netflix. That night, Darby and I introduced Brittany to Custard Cup (our favorite pastime!) and went to see The Adjustment Bureau.

Yum! (Notice my small cup--trying to be good; it's all relative)

On Tuesday, we went to this huge scrapbooking store about an hour away and then sat and read magazines in Barnes & Noble. For dinner, we went to Papa Del's and then came home for some chocolate chip cookie pie and game-playing.

Britt's flight home wasn't until Wednesday evening, so we got to enjoy a walk and lunch at the Courier Cafe before driving to Chicago. I am soooo glad she came. It was wonderful to catch up and have some extended "girl time." One of the hardest things about living up here is not being able to see my Texas friends very often or for very long, and feeling like I'm missing out on their lives. This was just what I needed.

Spring Break, Part One

I had a fabulous Spring Break with Brittany. I'm so glad she came to visit!

Her flight got in Friday night (to Midway, not O'Hare, which I very luckily realized just in time). We checked in to our hotel and then split some delicious cheesecake at the Grand Luxe Cafe (Weight Watchers was decidedly NOT in the picture this week).

On Saturday, we went to the Hancock Observatory where we enjoyed our coffee with a view.

After that, it was on to the Art Institute, then lunch at Pizano's Pizza (just so-so), wandering around Millenium Park, and a little shopping on The Magnificent Mile.

The obligatory "bean" photo

Saturday night we had dinner at a great Italian place, Topo Gigio. I highly recommend it. Then we went to see a comedy show at Second City. It was a really funny show and so much fun to do something completely different.

Sunday morning, we went on a walking architecture tour. It was very interesting, and I probably would have enjoyed it even more had it not started pouring about halfway through. We finished out the tour, then tried to warm up with some soup. We were hoping to go to the aquarium, but the line was really long, so we went to the Field Museum instead. After that, it was back home.

It was such a wonderful girls' weekend. Britt and I both have issues with asking people to take our picture, so we didn't get any pictures together (besides the fuzzy bean one above). But, Darby took one of us at my beloved Custard Cup, which I'll post in Part Two. :)

Spring is here!

One thing I enjoy about living in a colder climate is that the long winters really do make you appreciate nice weather more. Yesterday, it was around 70 and sunny and everyone was in such a good mood. During the first few days of spring, everybody goes outside and just walks around with huge smiles on their faces, saying, "It's warm!" I don't remember that happening on such a large scale in Texas.

Spring break starts today, and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! Brittany is coming in tonight and we're going to spend a couple of days in Chicago; then, she's going to come down to Champaign for a few days. It's going to be AWESOME! Just two more classes and a workout to get through, and then the fun begins. Yayyyyy!

Grown-Ups

I've always enjoyed sleeping in on Saturdays (until about 10 or so), but lately both Darby and I have been noticing that we feel really sluggish on Saturdays and often have headaches. We wondered if it could be the disruption in our normal sleep schedule. So, we decided to try getting up at 7:30 (just one hour later than normal). We've done it for two weeks now, and I really like it. I have a lot more energy, and I'm able to truly enjoy my Saturday rather than feeling like I've wasted half the day already. I think this means that we are officially grown-ups. :)

Also, I know I said I wouldn't give a weekly Weight Watchers update, but I can't resist. Even after a week in which I had: pizza (twice), dinner out at an Italian restaurant, and fettuccine alfredo at a friend's house, I still lost 2 pounds! I'm very excited but also amazed at how badly I must have been eating before this.

Weight Watchers

So, one of my goals before I turn 26 is to lose 5 lbs. Well, before last week, that wasn't going so well. In fact, it was going the opposite direction. I had actually gained a few pounds. I really was trying to eat healthier, but there always seemed to be some excuse not to ("it's someone's birthday"; "someone brought cookies to school"; "friends invited us out to eat"; or, let's be honest, "it's Monday"). So, I finally decided enough is enough and joined Weight Watchers. Most of my family has done Weight Watchers in the past, so I was familiar with the program.

And, after one week, I have to say, I LOVE it! Having a very structured goal was exactly what I needed to get my eating on track. I've been eating a lot more fruits and veggies, eating smaller portions, and not mindlessly snacking on pieces of candy here and there. I like that I can still basically eat whatever I want; I just have to decide if it's worth it. My true test last week was when some friends invited us to Texas Roadhouse. I got the grilled chicken salad and, here's the kicker, only ate one of those delicious rolls. And guess what? I didn't die. :) I was telling Darby that the strangest thing about being on this program is that I hardly ever feel full. I'm used to feeling full basically every day. I didn't really know how to stop at the point where I'm not hungry anymore but not full; it's nice.

Anyway, my goal is to lose 11 lbs. I weighed in this morning, and I've already lost 3! I'm so excited. I know that every week won't be such a drastic change, but I'm glad I'm off to a good start. And, don't worry, I won't bore you with an update every week or anything. Just had to share my good news. :)

I'm mean in my sleep, part 2

See part 1 here.

My sleep-talking has been pretty minimal lately, but I guess I've been kind of stressed because it's happened twice this week. And poor Darby has to put up with it.

On Monday or Tuesday night, I started whimpering and saying, "Should I have done something?" Darby said, "Should you have done what?" Then, I said, "There's a card I could have used." Evidently, I was dreaming about Dominion, a game Darby got for Christmas and we've played quite a bit. Not sure why I was crying about it, but I do take games pretty seriously...

Anyway, that was a little annoying but not mean. Then, Wednesday night, I started telling Darby, "Stop it. Just stop it." He said, "What?" I said, "You know." He said, "No, I don't." Then, I said, "You're such a self-assured (slang term for male anatomy)." I have NO idea why I said that. I've maybe used that term once or twice in my life. But I've certainly never called Darby that. Our conversation went on for a little while with me insisting I had a right to be mad at him. I guess I had a dream that he was being mean to me, but I can't remember that part. I do remember getting mad at him, though. Poor guy. I apologized in the morning; luckily, he has a sense of humor about it.

Lessons from reality TV

Perhaps this is just a sorry attempt to justify the hours I spend viewing bad reality television, but I've been thinking a lot lately about how grateful those shows make me for my family.

One theme that keeps coming back to me as I watch Say Yes to the Dress and Jon & Kate Plus Ei8ht is that I am sooo thankful for my mom. Of course, I'm grateful for my dad, too, but these shows are more about the moms. And the moms are CRAZY! Daughters will come out in a gorgeous dress that they are obviously in love with, and the mom will say, "Really? I think it makes your hips look big." It's unbelievable. So grateful that my mom knew to be tactfully honest when asked but also knew that her main job in dress shopping was moral support.

And don't even get me started on Kate Gosselin. There are so many problems with her mothering skills. But one particular sad thing is that she says she does the TV show so she can give her kids opportunities they wouldn't have otherwise---like going on lavish vacations. But, when they're on vacation, the kids complain the whole time (of course...they're kids). I can guarantee you they would give up the hot air balloon rides, the spa days, the over-the-top birthday parties to have a happy mom who would get on the floor and play with them. While I was fortunate in that I did get to take fun (but not over-the-top) vacations with my family, the memories I look back on most fondly are singing silly songs in the car together, playing games in our living room, going on church trips together.

I'm so thankful for the great example my mom was and is to me. I've always known she's a great mom, but the older I get, the more I appreciate her. And speaking of my mom, she started a blog! So, you should go check it out. I'm sure she'll have plenty of nice things to say about me. ;)

Good-bye

Katy and Jon (picture taken from Katy's facebook)

Well, I was living in denial, but the day finally came. Last Friday, Katy moved to California to join Jon who's in Marine Corps training. I'm so happy that they are back together after six months apart, but I was so sad to see her go. Jon and Katy were our first friends when we moved to Illinois, and the transition would have been so much harder without them. When we had been here just a few weeks, Darby had to go back to Texas for a wedding, so I was alone. Jon was busy, and Katy invited me over to eat dinner at her house. While I was getting ready, she got a call from her parents (her dad is the preacher at our church) saying that her brother and his family wanted to meet them for dinner in Decatur (about 45 mins away). She could have just canceled on me, but instead, she invited me to come along for the family dinner. I felt awkward, but I went, and had a lot of fun. Since then, we have spent countless hours eating dinner and playing games with Katy and Jon and Katy's family. Thankfully, Katy's family is still here in town, so we won't be losing them too. And, of course, we'll still see Jon and Katy when they come back to visit. I'm so glad Jon and Katy were here to welcome us when we arrived. At a time in our lives when we really needed friends, they were there for us (and still are). And while we'll no longer be seeing them several times a week, we are excited about keeping up with their new adventures.

The two best parts of this week

1. It was WARM! Like, in the 50s and 60s warm. :) Here's the snow mountain today. It really shows how solid it was since it's been above freezing for almost the whole week, and it still hasn't melted completely. And yes, those are huge chunks of our yard in it. Our neighbor on the bulldozer got a little carried away with the snow plowing, but at least we didn't have to do it, right?
2. We got a new couch for our guest room. We had an inflatable queen size bed, but it sprung a leak this summer and couldn't be patched. We've been avoiding putting an actual bed in that room because the room is small and Darby uses it as his music room. Darby's mom suggested a pull-out couch. And, since my ACU roommate and BFF Brittany is coming to visit in March (yay!), we had the push we needed to get it done. So, tax refund in hand, we headed to Ashley and got ourselves a sleeper sofa. I think it looks very nice in the room.
   

You know you've been together a long time when...

• you have to put back half the Valentine's cards you pick up at the store because you've already given them in previous years. Seriously, why can't Hallmark make some new cards?!?
  
• your big Valentine's date involves going to an early dinner, then going home to play a game and work on homework.
• you can admit to your honey that you don't feel like you have time to make the special Valentine's dessert that you were planning on, and he knows just what to say to make you feel ok about it.

So thankful to be celebrating my 10th(!) Valentine's Day with my wonderful husband. This past week has been pretty stressful with school/work stuff, and he has kept me sane, as always. I'm reminded every day how blessed I am to share my life with him.

I wonder...

how long it will take that pile of snow to melt completely? Considering the expected high for the next 10 days is no higher than 33, I'm thinking it might be March. Sigh.

We had a snow day on Wednesday, and it was wonderful. Although I'm a bit jealous of all of our Texas friends and their four snow days. I know, I know, no salt trucks or plows. Blah, blah, blah. But let me tell you, the roads aren't great here. Notice our snow/ice-covered street in the picture above (taken today, 3 days after the storm). But you're just expected to drive on it. In fact, I think the city just relies on the fact that people will drive on the roads and keep them from freezing over completely. Wah! Not fair! Only 2 more winters after this one, only 2 more winters after this one...

Goodbye, cable (for real this time).

Well, it happened. The cable we had been getting free for over a year finally went away. No, Comcast still never came and unhooked it. But, they changed all their channels to digital, so you can't get them unless you have the box.

The pain has been lessened by the fact that we now have Netflix streaming on our Wii. It's incredible. Darby and I have watched all of the seasons of 30 Rock, Seasons 1-4 of Psych, and are now starting Season 1 of Friday Night Lights. We do work on homework while we watch, so it's ok, right?

The loss of TLC and HGTV were a pretty big blow for me, but I've consoled myself by watching previous seasons of 17/18 Kids and Counting, Jon & Kate Plus 8, and Say Yes to the Dress. Pretty high-brow, I know. I console myself with the fact that I have stayed strong this year and avoided any episodes of The Bachelor. Baby steps. ;)

First week

Well, the first week of the semester was a little rough. Classes were fine, but I had a nasty cold, and the weather was not cooperating at all. For the first time, I literally walked to school in the snow. (Well, walked to and from the bus stop.) It snowed ALL DAY yesterday, so no one had shoveled because it was pointless. So I trudged through a good four inches of snow and slush. Good thing I have my fake Uggs. I swore I'd never wear those, but then I moved to the Arctic Tundra and, in my regular boots, the cold was seeping through the soles and making my feet ache, so I gave in and bought some. And oh.my.gosh. they are the most comfortable things I've ever put on my feet. And oh so warm. I never want to take them off. I even wear them around the house with my pajamas. :) It was sunny today, but COLD. Darby asked me to check the temperature this morning, so I went to weather.com and just started laughing. It was -5 with a windchill of -18. There are really only two choices in that situation: laugh or cry. Then, Darby checked the weather thing on his computer, and it said -11 with a windchill of -28. I chose to believe the more optimistic forecast. I survived thanks to multiple layers and the hand warmers from my stocking.

So, it wasn't the best week, but I survived, and I'm looking forward to a much better second week. And reeeaallly looking forward to Spring.

On Domesticity

As many of you know, I have long considered myself a feminist. However, my interests seem to lean decidedly to the "unfeminist" side of things. I enjoy cooking, entertaining, and crafts, and I plan to be a stay-at-home mom to some degree when I do have kids. In my mind, feminism and domesticity are not antithetical. As my family has heard me say over and over: "I cook because I want to, not because I have to." But, I still sometimes feel a bit uneasy, like maybe I'm not a real feminist.

And then, on a whim, I picked up The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket. It's a beautiful book filled with photographs and musings on baking, quilting, crocheting, and in general, the simple pleasures of home. The author was educated at the height of the second-wave feminist movement in the 1970s, and domesticity was strongly discouraged. So she entered the corporate world, but always secretly enjoyed the projects she did at home. When her husband got a job in Germany and she found out she was expecting twins, she decided to become a full-time homemaker. Here's what she said about her decision:

Full-blown domesticity was now finally forced upon me and I admit I gave in willingly. Instead of fighting the glaringly anachronistic corporate-wife lifestyle, I realized I didn't have to kowtow to that particular set of expectations. Instead, I saw that enforced domesticity could be tremendously liberating and would allow me to do all the things I had loved for so long and yet had felt guilty about practicing. Knitting, baking, buying flowers and bread, exploring a different domestic culture, reading the Victorian novelist Elizabeth Gaskell--all this suddenly became worthwhile, and a way of being me in the face of impending motherhood and, that dreadful label, a trailing spouse.

Reading this, I felt like someone finally expressed my thoughts on the subject of homemaking, albeit much more eloquently. Now, I am not nearly as accomplished a domestic artist as Ms. Brocket (namely, I don't sew in any form). But, I do enjoy being at home more than anything else. And I'm glad to see a departure from the view that being a feminist means you must be a (preferably single) businesswoman.

If you're interested in baking, sewing, design, or looking at pretty things, I'd highly recommend this book. It's not a "craft book," that is, it does not give directions for craft projects. But it's a great source of inspiration and a fascinating reflection on why the "gentle arts" are so appealing.

Goal Update

I figured the first of the year would be a good time to evaluate my progress toward my "26 before 26" goals. I must admit I haven't made quite as much progress as I would have liked. School took up a lot of my time in the fall, and frankly, I just didn't make these a priority. But, I'm still committed, and I'm going to do better from now until June.

1. Finish couch-to-5K. I got up to 2 miles continuously before I kind of quit. I've been doing workout videos at home instead. But I'll get back on it.
   
2. Take and pass at least one of my seven comprehensive exams. This should happen in April or May.
   
3. Finish my shelf of unread books. I'm down to 3! But, I brought back a bunch more books from home, so it's starting all over. :)
   
4. Lose 5 lbs. and maintain it. Haven't really tried. I'm starting for real now.
   
5. Take at least 100 pictures. By this, I meant 100 pictures that I could frame if I wanted to (my standards aren't that high). The cruise helped a little, but I need to stay on it.
   
6. Finish my one-year Bible. Getting there slowly but surely
   
7. Make it through my housecleaning checklist. Ha! Pretty much haven't started this one.
8. Make cheese. Not yet.
   
9. Come up with at least 2 healthy vegetarian meals that Darby and I actually enjoy. Not yet.
   
10. Start my personal Happiness Project. Not so much, but I am a happier person in general now.
    
11. Go to three events at the U of I. We've been to 1.
    
12. Make crepes. Not yet.
    
13. Reduce our monthly gift budget. We squeaked by just under budget for gifts for the year, but I think I can still do better.
    
14. Go to St. Louis (for real this time). We went to the Arch when we had a 5-hour layover while riding the train. And I think we maybe decided we've now seen enough of St. Louis. :)
    
15. Save an average of 25% on every grocery shopping trip. So far, so good. My current average is 33%.
    
16. Take a Spanish class. I finished this. It was fun, but a little too easy. I'm looking for an advanced Spanish class next.
    
17. Make homemade tortillas. Not yet.
    
18. Initiate plans with friends twice per month. I think I've done this
    
19. Whittle "to try" recipes saved online to 200 (currently at 272). I'm down to 234!
    
20. Redesign my blog. Obviously haven't done this.
    
21. Read 3 faith-related books. I've read 1.
    
22. Plan an event for our college group. Not yet.
    
23. Stay in better touch with my sister and brother. I still need to do better on this one.
    
24. Watch at least 4 football games on TV. Done. And it was fun! I'm not sure I'm a die-hard fan, but I like it.
    
25. Become a Conversation Partner. Done! And we're going to continue this semester.
    
26. Spend no more than 1 hour per day on the Internet (unless it's for work, school, or personal finance reasons). Hmmmm...some days are better than others. This is an ongoing process.
    

Cruisin'

We made it back to Illinois last night after a long day of traveling. It was such a great trip, but it is nice to be back in my own bed.

For our Christmas gift this year, my parents treated all of us kids to a cruise. And to make it even better, Darby's parents came, too. (And we are really grateful to Darby's parents for chipping in so Darby and I could have our own room; otherwise, we were going to be divided girls and boys.) We all had a great time; besides the little stomach bug I caught at the very end of the trip, it was a week full of fun and relaxation.

We left Galveston on Sunday on the Voyager of the Seas. It was a little bit chilly for the first couple of days, but we had fun playing games, watching the shows, and, of course, eating.

Our first stop was Cozumel. Dad and I went to a Mexican cuisine cooking workshop. Because there was an open bar (which Dad and I took full advantage of--ha!), there were no knives allowed. So it was less of a cooking class and more of an "assembling" class, but it was still a lot of fun, and the food was yummy. I also got a huuuge bottle of cheap Mexican vanilla. Woo-hoo!

Our instructor taught us some cool decorating tricks. Here's my attempt. I think with a little more practice, I'll get better.

Dad and me in our awesome chef hats.

Our second stop was Roatan, Honduras. It was absolutely beautiful. Darby, Matt, and I went to a wildlife preservation park where you could hold monkeys and macaws. I passed on the monkeys, but, as you'll see below, I did hold a bird. Afterwards, we laid on the beach for an hour or so.

Matt

Darby

Darby and me

Finally, we went to Belize. Our whole family went ziplining, which was awesome and a little bit scary. Unfortunately, the camera with the zipline pictures on it was lost, so you'll just have to imagine how ridiculous I looked.

Dinnertime was so fun, since the whole gang got to eat together. Our waiter, John, was strictly business. He was training a new waiter, Mu, who was obviously very nervous but so sweet. We celebrated New Year's Eve on the ship. There was a huge balloon drop on the main deck. I couldn't get any good pictures because it was dark, but it was pretty cool.

The Anderson fam on the second formal night. (Hannah's boyfriend Jeremy was taking this picture. I'm so glad he was able to come. It was good to get to know him better.)

The Hewitts on the first formal night.

It was a great trip, and I'm so grateful to both of our families for treating us. So many people that we told about our trip couldn't believe that our families could get along well enough to go on a cruise together. I guess it is kind of an unusual situation; we are very blessed.