Lunches

Lately my lunches have not been very healthy. For a while, I was eating out most days because I didn't know what I'd be in the mood for come lunch time. That was getting expensive though, and takes a big chunk out of my work day. Now I'm buying frozen lunches, because I've been enjoying eating something other than PB&J for lunch. I'm trying to get organic ones (like Kashi or Amy's burritos) that are relatively low in fat and sodium, but most of them still have 20-30% of my daily sodium, which seems like a lot. Also, it's still not very cheap.

Meanwhile ... I'm getting weekly emails from babycenter.com. I just got the '15 week' email the other day (my baby is the size of an apple). The email had 3 recommended, healthy lunches. I'm excited to try them (once I finish my current supply of frozen meals), and thought I'd share. They sound tasty and healthy for anyone, not just a pregnant person :)

• Pita Pocket: Stuff 1 whole-wheat pita with 3 ounces of crab salad (use canned crabmeat mixed with fat-free mayo and spices), 2 tablespoons of avocado or guacamole, 1 ounce cheese, and lettuce and tomato. Serve with a piece of fruit.

• Crunchy Fiesta Salad: Mix together a handful of chopped lettuce, 1/3 cup black beans, 2 tablespoons of corn, 2 tablespoons of guacamole, chopped tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of pine nuts (optional), and 1 ounce shredded low-fat cheese. Top with salsa or low-fat dressing (cilantro works well too!).

• Mediterranean Roll-Up: Spread 1 whole-wheat tortilla with hummus, cover with fresh spinach, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Top with a sprinkling of pasteurized feta cheese and a dollop of plain yogurt.

I'm Still Here

I guess it's been about 7 mo. since I blogged last - oops! Our summer was ridiculously busy, I think we had plans every weekend for about 3 months. Then, I got pregnant, and didn't really feel like doing much. But, now we are public with the pregnancy (and I'm at 15 weeks and feeling better). Also I think more people might interested in what I have to say now that I'm harboring a little fugitive. The due date is July 2! But I'll try not to overdo the baby stuff, because although I'm excited there are still other interesting things going on in life.

For now, I'll do a little catch up on the end of 2010. I'll try to sum it up using the metrics that mean the most to me :)

Nights spent outside: 19

Favorite backpacking trip: I have two. First, our adventurous friend Eric came out to visit in September and we spent 7 days in the Maze district of Canyonlands. This is probably one of the more remote places in the Lower 48 and we didn't see any other hikers the whole time (although we passed some roads and saw some folks driving and on bikes - smart). We covered 65 miles of beautiful and dramatic scenery.Sunrise from one of our campsites

We smelled pretty bad after 7 days in the desert :)

Second, in July, Chris, Nick, and I went on a great backcountry trip in Rocky Mountain National Park. We didn't see any other people for 2 days and enjoyed some wonderful scenery. We also had a delicious trout dinner our second night out. It felt like we had found a secret wonderland in the usually crowded park.

This is from an overnight trip in the Mt. of the Holy Cross Wilderness with Nick, Levi, and Matt. It was absolutely gorgeous. We wanted to summit the Mt but it was still too snowy in mid-June.

Miles biked: Since I started keeping track in April, I rode 1950 miles - including a 90 mile ride from Frisco to Glenwood Springs, and a weekend of 215 miles in the beautiful mountains of southern Colorado. Unfortunately the combination of the darkness of winter and being pregnant has made me completely uninterested in my bike since October. That feels strange.

Miles run/hiked: Again, since I started counting it's 493 miles. I still want to meet my goal of running 625 miles before April!

Races: I purposefully avoided racing too much this year, I felt like I needed a break and to refocus my life on other priorities. However, since I'm addicted, I did a few. :)
In May I ran a 5K to gauge how my "non-training" training was going and finished in 24:36, actually my third fastest 5K.
In July, I did an offroad triathlon at Beaver Creek. It was pretty brutal with lots of elevation gain. My friends Rachel, Michelle, and Jenn came to keep me company and enjoy the mountains so it was a nice weekend. I want to do more of these :)
Also in July I did a mountain bike race in Winter Park. Let me tell you, mountain bike racing (especially at ~9000 ft) is hard (but exciting)!
In November, while I was about 7 weeks pregnant, I did my first trail half marathon with Nick. Due to my "condition", I didn't push it too much until the last few miles. The upside of that is I finished with lots of energy and have never felt so good running 13 miles. Also, now I have a time to beat (about 2:20) when I run it next year! :)

New love: I started trail running more this year. Partly because some friends at work and I began running weekly on the trails near my department. Now I am hooked and wish I could do it all the time. I just finished reading "Born to Run" which has only fueled this flame.

Most worthwhile trip: I guess it depends on your point of view. Personally, the trip to Liberia was life-changing because of the amazing people we met and the things I saw.

Professionally, I had a great time in Brazil at the American Geophysical Union conference in August. It was a case of being in the right place at the right time. There were so many other people there who focus on the Amazon - I learned a lot and made some good contacts. I gave a talk on my research and I think it went well, and I had a poster on a "side project" and got some good feedback on that too (unfortunately I'm not sure if anything else will come of that project).

Also I had a lot of fun with my friend Melissa ...

Visiting one of the world's most amazing waterfalls, Iguacu Falls.

Taking a boat trip under the falls (w/ my advisor, Scott)

And eating great food at a Brazilian barbecue (and drinking some delicious Malbecs from nearby Argentina)

New experiences: Chris and I spent a lot of time this year talking about if we're ready to have kids. I think there will always be more adventures we want to have - there is always "one more" backpacking trip to take or place to visit (or we want to go back to Moab just "one more time"). But we are excited about being parents, and I know that having a baby will be an adventure of its own. I expect it to be challenging but, as with everything else we do together, I also expect to find lots of laughter and fulfillment along the way.

Honestly, so far being pregnant has not been all that fun! But now that I'm feeling better I'm appreciating it more. Some highlights have been the day we found out I'm pregnant (Oct. 30), having an ultrasound and seeing that there actually IS a PERSON growing inside of me!, and hearing the baby's heartbeat at my appointments. That is so cool! :)

Peanut butter goodness!

I made these cookies this afternoon and they were sooo good. Very peanut buttery. Usually my oatmeal cookies come out flat and crispy, but they even had a nice texture after baking. I was worried because the dough was really dry and I had to work to form the balls into, well, actual balls and not just dough crumbs. The only adjustment I made for altitude (or maybe just b/c I'm impatient) is cooking them at 375. I highly recommend!
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Us vs. Weeds

This weekend we had the opportunity to go to Steamboat with our friends Mollie and Rob. Steamboat is one of my favorite mountain towns, and has amazing mountain biking, so I was pretty excited. But, in a rare act of responsibility, Chris and I decided to stay in town instead so we could work on the yard! We have several busy weekends coming up, and were out of town last weekend, so it actually has been really nice to be around today.

Last night, our friends Jeramy and Christine stopped by for "happy hour" on our back patio. Their 2-year old son, Carson, was a big help and watered the lawn for us. He is a cutie! Check out this picture, he is kind of sticking out his tongue from the effort - that watering bucket is pretty heavy for him.

Today, I spent 4 hours (and Chris spend 5-1/2!) battling the weeds in the back yard. I decided to take before and after pictures, so I could prove to myself that I've been productive. We got a lot done today, and will probably work for a few more hours tomorrow too.

Along the side of the house, the grass had gotten REALLY tall. It was a struggle to pull some of it up, I might have fallen over a few times - and I might have really sore hamstrings tomorrow!













Last summer we planted wildflowers along the side of the yard, but since then the weeds have helped themselves to this area (along w/ a family of snakes who lived under the plastic last summer, which is why I haven't moved it yet!). We've reclaimed it - for now.

Chris really had his work cut out for him in the garden, but now it looks much better than before, and some of the veggies are doing really well. We have a lot of lettuce to eat over the next few days - yay for salads!

Here's what happens when an over-analytical person is also obsessed with biking, running, and hiking

About two months ago, I made a goal to run 625 miles and bike 3000 miles in a year. (What was I thinking??) 9 weeks into it, how am I doing?

So far, I've ran 84.3 miles and biked 545.8 miles, and according to my goal I should be at 108 and 675 miles. I am little behind, but oh well. I had some pretty pathetic weeks (a few weeks ago I only rode 13.5 miles, and last week I only ran 3.2), but also some good accomplishments (last weekend I mountain biked 42 miles, I rode over 200 miles in the last two weeks, and two weeks ago I ran one of my fastest 5Ks in 24:36). Also, I've commuted almost 273 miles (about half of my total riding), which since my car gets about 25 mpg has saved me more than $28. And honestly, another major accomplishment is not letting the "need to train" take over my life.

Since I am a dork, I've included some charts :). I count playing softball or kickball as running 1 mile, unless it's a really slow game. I haven't done any trail running yet, which needs to change ASAP because it's so much fun.

I have two races I'm planning on doing in the next two weeks: the Boulder Sunrise duathlon on Saturday, and the Winter Park hill climb on June 12. Hopefully I can continue to enjoy all this exercise, and not obsess over it too much, although the pie charts on this post might suggest otherwise ... :)

SPRING!!!

According to the weather station near our house, today is the fourth day this year that it's been above 70. We have been yearning for some warm weather (after snow and high temperatures in the 30's last week), so this feels amazing! We've done a little bit of work in the yard - mostly Chris has been expanding his garden. Today we moved a truckload of dirt into a new section of garden in the back yard. I have to admit, I was not psyched about shoveling dirt on such a gorgeous day (my bike was calling to me). But after we were done I felt very satisfied (and tired).

He's been talking expanding the garden for a couple of years, and this year our friend Rachel said she'd like to grow some vegetables in our garden, so that was the impetus he needed. A few weekends ago, they both worked for a few hours moving rock and breaking up the ground. It should be ready to go soon!

So far, Chris has planted leeks, spinach, swiss chard, peas (ick), radishes, beets, carrots, onions, potatoes, cabbage, kale, and a variety of lettuces. Rachel planted arugula, peas, carrots, and beets. And, we have some nice looking pepper plants. Soon Chris will plant even more veggies, AND, we signed up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share with Grant Family Farms - so we are going to have vegetables coming out the ying-yang this summer!!


Chris also planted 2 raspberry bushes, and we have 2 blueberry bushes, so we'll see how that works. They need a lot of water, so we have to keep on top of that (the raspberries are in the picture to the right, along with 2 rows of irises Chris' friend planted for us last fall).

In the front yard, we have some irises that are about to come up (I love irises!) and some nice tulips in bloom, and the landscaping we put in a couple of years ago is doing pretty well, too.






And the last project has been our compost pile. After a few years of just accumulated waste, Chris made an "official" bins in the back so that we can rotate them and finally start using the amazing looking dirt on the bottom. You can tell it's cooking, too, Chris said it was steaming when he turned it the other day. Yeah, microbes!









Above: the new bins, "dirt" after and before composting. (It's amazing how little we throw away when most of our kitchen scraps go into the compost pile.)

What's my story?

Friday we went to a talk from Donald Miller, who is a Christian author whose most recent book ("A Million Miles in a Thousand Years") I read a few weeks after getting back from Liberia. I think the timing of it was just right. The book (and his talk Friday) is focused on the concept of "story". Basically, a director contacts him about making a movie about his life (based on his earlier book, "Blue Like Jazz"). But as he thinks about how the movie will go, he realizes his life doesn't really tell a good story. So he sets out to discover what makes a good story, and makes some interesting changes to his life in the process.

He finds that the elements of a good story are: "A character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it." (Although of course there is more to it than that, since he wrote a whole book on it.) The thing I liked about the book is that it makes you think that your life doesn't have to be just a series of moments of you living, working, playing etc. No matter what you love in life, it's exciting to think that you can write a story through your life. Not that there's anything wrong with enjoying the moment and living for each day, in my opinion. But after being in Liberia, where I felt like what I was doing mattered in a much deeper way than just sitting at my computer all day, it affected me strongly to think that even living in Fort Collins, Colorado, I can live out a life that "tells a good story". Beyond that, I am kind of lost, because what would have to change for me to live a good story? Is my story decent now? Or should I sell everything and move to Africa? That seems a little extreme. These are kind of deep "life" questions that I don't intend to answer in this blog (or any time soon, to be honest).

But it's been on my mind lately and I think a great thing to think about. I do know that my life will involve working with Transformation International for the foreseeable future. It's a good thing I've already decided not to devote much time to training this year because that time has been easily filled up doing things related to the Peanut Butter House. I'm planning (another) event focused on it and other grass roots projects going on in Africa. I think it's going to be really neat, but maybe I should have gone into event planning rather than grad school.