What I learned on Summer Vacation

• Invest in a full body suit if you ever plan on going tubing for 5+ hours. Otherwise, you will burn the entire front half of your body. Including your feet. And you might not be able to walk for two days.
• Take a note from the Peterson clan and pack 4 coolers for 11 people tubing 5+ hours. (We had more food than I have in my entire house. We had two kinds of sandwiches, 3 kinds of sandwich crackers, goldfish, cheez-its, pecan wheels, nectarines, plums, 2 kinds of grapes, cherries, and pineapple!)
• Add cream cheese to everything. It will probably make it better.
• Big Lou's Pizza is the best pizza on the PLANET! (It's a pizza place in South San Antonio that was featured on Travel Channel's Man vs. Food for having a 42 inch pizza!)
• How to play Cadillac/31!
• Time spent with family and friends is the best time.

These gems of knowledge were accumulated while Adam and I stayed in San Antonio for a 4 day vacation. My sister and brother-in-law came down from Denver and we all stayed at my sister's best friend's house outside of La Vernia, TX. It was a great vacation filled with food, fun, food, TOOBING (that's how I'm obligated to spell it) and food. Special thanks to Rachel and Ben for making it all possible! And thank you Pawelek's who graciously opened their home to all of us! Love yall!

The Omnivore's Dilemma

I am reading the book "Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. I HIGHLY recommend it! The dilemma he discusses is simply the idea 'What should I eat for dinner?' And since humans are omnivores we have the ability to eat pretty much anything. He examines the abundance of options American's have and how we have come to have all these options. Today while I was sitting on the couch reading this passage struck me and I wanted to share it. :)

*To give some context, he is discussing the French Paradox and the ability of Americans to latch onto any food fad as quickly as we do based on one man's ideas (Atkins...), one experiment, cookbook, etc. *

"Perhaps because we have no such culture of food in America almost every question about eating is up for grabs. Fat or carbs? Three squares or continuous grazing? Raw or cooked? Organic or industrial? Veg or vegan? Meat or mock meat? Foods of astounding novelty fill the shelves of our supermarket, and the line between a food and a "nutritional supplement" has fogged to the point where people make meals of protein bars and shakes. Consuming these neo-psuedo-foods alone in our cars we have become a nation of antinomian eaters, each of us struggling to work out our dietary salvation on our own. Is it any wonder Americans suffer from so many eating disorders? In the absence of any lasting consensus about what and how and where and when to eat, the omnivore's dilemma has returned to American with an almost atavistic force. This situation suits the food industry just fine, of course. The more anxious we are about eating, the more vulnerable we are to the seductions of the marketer and the expert's advice. Food marketing in particular thrives on dietary instability and so tends to exacerbate it. "

Pollan, Michael. "The Omnivore's Dilemma, A Natural History of Four Meals". New York: The Penguin Press, 2006.

What do you think?

Rachel's Visit

I am lucky enough to have a wonderful relationship with my older sister. She has constantly been a great presence in my life and I am deeply thankful for her. She was kind enough to come down to Abilene to visit me for a few days while Adam was out of town. We had a blast!!

Big sisters are wonderful (or mine is anyway) because they help you do things that you do not have the confidence to do on your own. The biggest example of that during her most recent visit was with my gardening. I have had five types of seeds I have been wanting to plant but I didn't know how/what I needed to buy/where to put the seeds/how much water to give them/ etc etc etc. One day while I was at work Rachel was kind enough to buy me some soil and we determined that the next day would be "planting day". The next morning we made labels for each plant and planted them in their own little pots! I was thrilled! I'm not sure why the idea of planting these seeds terrified me so much...but I was very nervous about doing it wrong! Luckily, I have a fantastic older sister who is both smart AND experienced with gardening.

At the moment my green beans, purple bell pepper, and tigger melon have all sprouted and seem to be doing well! It's really fun to go check on them...I feel like a proud parent! When I upload my pictures I will share all the photos I have taken during this process...so fun!

So thank you, Rachel, for always helping me, showing me new things, teaching me, and not getting too annoyed when I ask 1,000 questions. I love you!

Grace&Peace

Running update

Howdy! As you may know, I have started running. Many reasons have gone into this...including stress relief while Adam is away, tiring myself out so I can actually sleep while Adam is away, and of course...for the health of it! The main catalyst for this new hobby was a request to be part of a group of people running a marathon relay. Hopefully there will be five of us running the marathon...therefore dividing the 26.2 miles by five...and running 5.24 miles each. The marathon will be sometime in the fall...I'm not positive of the exact date (I should find that out huh?).

Although I ran the mile in middle school (that's a big deal right?) I have never been a big runner. I have never, EVER been one of those people that thinks "I didn't work out today, I feel so awful". I'm more like..."I want to work out...but can't muster the energy to do so....oh well." But I really love the way I feel afterwards... A combination of feeling very accomplished, proud, and healthy.

So now I have been jogging a few times a week for about three weeks. At first I could barely run 3/4 of a mile. I really wanted to stop running after the first 20 steps and say "Well, I'll just have to tell them I quit the relay team!" But now I run a mile fairly comfortably! My goal is to increase the amount I run by 1/4 mile every 1-2 weeks. I have started to enjoy it more and have a great motivational tool (more on that later).

Grace&Peace

CWells

The Honeymooners

Thanks for checking us out guys!

(OK I gotta be honest, I didn't mean to add this picture and have no idea how to delete it without screwing up all my other formatting. I need blog lessons....but in the meantime, enjoy the random picture!)

Here we are listening to toasts at our wedding. Our wedding was a beautiful, emotional, intimate, and spiritual time. But this post isn't about our wedding...it's about the WEEK AFTERWARD!

Adam and I got married in Bryan then drove to New Orleans, LA, spent one night there, then drove the rest of the way to Destin, FL. Here is a shot of our amazing hotel that we stayed in (called The International House) while we were in New Orleans, LA. It was one of those boutique-fancy-shmancy hotels. What a treat!

This was our FIRST dinner in Destin. We went to a place called Goat Feathers. It is a fish market on the bottom floor and an AWESOME seafood restaurant on the top floor. The best part about it is that it is within walking distance of the house we were staying at. My family has been coming here for years but I had not been here since I was in high school. It was DELICIOUS and we actually went there for dinner the next night also. :)

Here we are at dinner at the Melting Pot. This is a great restaurant for overly-mushy-newlyweds. The funnest part of dinner was that we got to make each others food using the fondue pot on our table. Another good aspect about this eatery is that, since you cook your own food, the meal can takes a very long time. Adam and I are BIG fans of meals that take a very long time so this was a great place for us.

Exploring Seaside....one of my favorite little towns! Adam is holding a gift bag from a shop where we bought OUR first Christmas ornament. This was exciting for us because then we could have a memory from our beautiful honeymoon AND have an ornament that belongs to BOTH of us.

Our last night in Destin :(. We went out for a casual, relaxing dinner and went out to see The Hangover!

Our last dinner in Destin...We enjoyed pizza and beer on a patio at a small pizza place by the beach. We are obviously very simple people...that enjoy simple things. :)

That was a basic synopsis of our beautiful Florida honeymoon. We can't wait to go back and do it all over again!

ilovecooking

This blogpost is dedicated to my absolute favorite things in the world: cooking and baking. Since Adam is out of town during the week, I find myself with a lot of spare time in the evenings. Don't get me wrong, some days I make something very simple/warm up leftovers. But other days, when I'm feeling adventurous, I venture into the kitchen and see what I can make based on what I already have. So far this has led to summer pasta (which is my 100% made up name for cold whole wheat penne with blanched green beans sliced roma tomatoes and homemade lemon vinaigrette ), blondies, baked macaroni and cheese, stove top macaroni and cheese, soy breakfast tacos, roasted eggplant and squash pasta, and a few other goodies.

This week I plan on trying to make chicken pot pie, my big fat Greek pitas, and homemade veggie patties (all from the hungry girl cookbook http://www.hungry-girl.com/). Also, it's long overdue and I NEED to try to make crock pot oatmeal. I am particularly excited about breakfast apricot crisp (from http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/06/breakfast-apricot-crisp/).

So now there is yet ANOTHER reason for you to come visit us here in Abilene, I have an excuse to cook for more than one person!

Grace&Peace

New Digs

I wanted to share pictures of our new house! We feel very blessed to be able to move into this cute old house. We look forward to having all our friends and family come stay with us because we finally have some room! BIG THANKS from the BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS to Pam and Eddie Wells (Adam's parents). The volunteered their time, truck, a sweet trailer, and Pam's endless energy and invaluable home-setting-up-skills. We began moving at 10 AM Saturday morning and were totally unpacked by 2 PM Sunday! It was a moving miracle!

Also, thank you to my Mom and sister for helping us hang pictures, make, and hang up curtains (I took these picture before we put up all the curtains). It really helped make our house a home!

If you ever find yourself in Abilene, TX (after you get over the initial shock and confusion at even BEING in Abilene, TX) please give us a call! We would love to see you!