Friday Five

For someone who is in a rather busy phase of life (working part-time while raising a two year old with another on the way), I subscribe to a rather comical number of magazines.  I always find myself thinking, wow, I'd only pay .50 cents an issue if I sign up for this deal, and forget that my leisure time is not what it used to be.  But still, relaxing outside in the sun with a cold drink and a magazine to flip through ranks among my favorite activities, especially if I'm next to the ocean.  Here are my top five favorite magazines:

1) Cooking Light.  I don't have nearly enough time to try all the recipes I want that come in each issue, but I have rarely - if ever - been disappointed by one I've tried.  And they are relatively healthy too!  One of my favorite columns is when they ask a reader for a tried and true favorite recipe that is terribly bad for you, and then lighten it up, while still keeping the yummy flavor.

2) Runner's World.  It often inspires me, or gives me the kick I need to get out the door or train for my next race.  Plus, it's full of cool new gear, nutrition ideas, and stories about running.  It's also fun to read about the crazy, CRAZY people who do things like run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 weeks.

3) Real Simple.  The cover is always so crisp and clean, and so are all the articles inside.  Sometimes I feel like the pieces they run are a bit repetitive, but it's fun to imagine the ways that I could be organized and on top of my life.  I even employ one of their suggestions every once in awhile.

4) Sports Illustrated.  I'm a pretty big sports fan, and can keep up with most conversations about almost any major sport.  As we approach NFL training camp season, my desire to read up on players for my fantasy football teams starts to take over!

5) People.  Everyone needs a little mindless reading in their life, and this is where I choose to get mine.  I don't subscribe, but it's generally the first magazine I pick up when I'm at the airport and need to kill an hour, or I've managed to escape and grab an hour of "me time" at the local bookstore.  Gotta love the Hollywood gossip!

Friday Five

In the winter, our family purchased a membership to the Grand Rapids Children's Museum.  This turned out to be a great activity for those long, never ending cold and snowy days.  And, as a bonus, during certain months our membership also gets us into other cool places around Grand Rapids.  In May, we were able to take advantage of free admission to Meijer Gardens.  We visited on a hot, sunny day this past week to hit up the children's play area and the Chihuly exhibit.  For this week's Friday Five, here are my top five favorite pictures!

The Friday Five

I'm having trouble coming up with a topic for this week's blog post.  My head is a little bit all over the place, and I can't seem to categorize my thoughts enough to order them in any particular way.  One of the biggest things that keeps percolating is news that we've recently begun to share more widely; we're expecting a new addition to our family in November!  Emily is going to be a big sister, and though she really isn't too engaged with the idea yet, Eric and I are rather excited.  And, truth be told, also a little terrified of having two small children!  And so, this week I'll share five random thoughts about being pregnant the second time around:

1.  Why didn't anyone tell me that I would start to look pregnant the second the pregnancy test showed a positive result?  Seriously, I'm almost 12 weeks along, and already, my jeans are a little snug.  I don't really understand this, as I haven't actually gained any weight yet, but there it is.  I seem to recall making it at least another month the first time around before I even began to think about maternity clothes.

2.  I forgot how rude people can be when you're pregnant.  I had one person, who shall remain anonymous, make the following comment to me after I told this individual that I was expecting: "you know, I thought you were looking a little plump".  I mean, really, in what context is that an acceptable comment to make?!

3.  My unwanted pregnancy symptoms - tiredness and nauseousness - have been much worse this time around.  I've felt sick off and on all day long, suffered a rather violent stomach virus in the middle of it, and am only just starting to feel like my normal self.  I've also found myself falling asleep on the couch shortly after Emily is in bed for the night on several occasions, and once I laid down on the couch in the middle of the day, while Emily was playing, and was woken up by her several minutes later.  That was a little unnerving!

4.  I have been very disappointed that coffee has been completely unappealing to me.  For my birthday recently, I was given a Keurig single-cup brew coffee maker (thanks mom!).  I used it daily for about two weeks, and since then, haven't been able to stomach the thought (or the smell) of a cup of coffee.  I'm truly hoping that changes soon.

5.  I'm going to know this baby's birthday way before he or she is born.  I've chosen to schedule another c-section, a decision supported by my doctor 100%, and she informed me yesterday that she can schedule this anytime after 20 weeks.  She gave me a due date of November 24th, but said they like to do as few surgeries as possible in the days before Thanksgiving, so I will likely deliver on the 18th or 19th of November.  It will be a completely different feeling to know exactly how much time  is left with this pregnancy!  Of course, the little one could always come early and surprise us.  Early isn't bad.

In all seriousness though, despite the complaints, I know just how blessed we are to be pregnant and almost through the first trimester.  It's been a more turbulent ride this time around, fraught with more worries and panicky moments about what could still go wrong, but God is good all the time, and we're thrilled to start a new adventure together as a family.

The Friday Five

I think most people, even if they don't formally write it down, have at least a mental list of things they want to do and/or see before they die.  Some of these things are big and grandiose, and others smaller, but it's fun to have some of each.  And even more fun to cross them off as you do them.  Here are five things on my list:

1.  Start a vegetable garden.  I'm irrationally terrified of gardening.  But at the same time, I love the idea of growing my own food, and how it would reduce our carbon foot print and force us to eat healthier.  I don't know if this summer will be the summer that I take the plunge and just do it, but I have these books on hold at the library, so we'll see: Grow Great Grub and Small Plot, High Yield Gardening: How to Grow like a Pro, Save Money, and Eat Well by Turning your Yard Into an Organic Produce Garden.

2.  Run a sub four hour marathon.  Okay, so this is a bigger goal, but I really think I can do it.  I just better set my sights on a marathon sooner rather than later.  Maybe I'll research which ones have the fastest, flattest courses...

3.  Attend a major sporting event: the superbowl, the olympics, or the U.S. Tennis Open are my top choices.

4.  Go to a wine tasting event.  They always sound so fun, and I really love to sample new wines!  My friend's mom, who is a buyer for a local grocery chain, hosted an informal night of wine tasting last year, and it was amazing!  I need to visit some vineyards and have at it sometime!

5.  Make the perfect granola.  I love to eat it with yogurt and fruit for breakfast in the mornings, but it's so expensive at the grocery store, so I've tried a couple different homemade recipes.  I'm getting better, but I'm not there yet.  Any tips?

The Friday Five

For lent this year, I gave up chocolate.  To many, this is not such a difficult feat, but to me, it was quite a challenge.  I'd actually done it once before, when I was in high school, but clearly time had made the challenge seem like a less daunting feat than it actually is.  I kind of imagine that labor is the same way, and that is what allows women to decide to have more babies, but I digress.  This week has been full of chocolate goodness, probably too much so.  I KNOW I ate way too much of a butterfinger milkshake last night!  Still, here are my top 5 chocolate treats:

1)  Trader Joe's Peppermint Chocolate Covered Joe-Joe's.  These are the best thing ever invented.  Period.  The ones in the picture don't all have the chocolate covering, but the boxes I buy do.  They only come out around the holidays, so I stock up.  I literally bought every box on the shelf when I visited a Trader Joe's location after Thanksgiving.  For those curious, it was 12 boxes.  I try to space them out over the course of the year, but I'm already halfway through them.

2) Chocolate covered strawberries.  I don't get to eat them that all that often, but something about the combination of the flavors has me drooling every time!  There are a lot of things that taste better when covered in chocolate, but strawberries have to be one of the best!

3) Bruster's Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Ice Cream.  I worked at an ice cream store called Bruster's when I was in high school, and Eric likes to brag about how often I was named "Scooper of the Month".  One of my crowning professional achievements for sure.  But they have the best ice cream, and the flavor mentioned above is just unbelievable.  I've tried everything to transport it back to Michigan, but I have to suffice for over-indulging when I'm home.

4) Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies.  When they are right out of the oven, and you down them with a cold glass of milk, that's hard to beat.

5) Tira Misu Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.  So stinking good!  It feels light (well, relatively light, compared to other cheesecakes) and just melts in your mouth.  I'm salivating just thinking about it right now, and I always have to treat myself when I visit this restaurant!

So, that's my list.  Am I missing any chocolate goodies that you can't live without?

Friday Five

Tonight, in the middle of an unusually warm spring week, I bring you the top five reasons why it's harder to push Emily in the jogging stroller this year than it was last year:

5.  She is so much more aware of her surroundings.  If we get within a 1/2 mile radius of a park, or a field, or anything else that looks interesting, she'll start in on me: 'Out, Emily get out.  Swings!  Emily swing!  Walk!  Emily walk!"  And so on it will go until we are well past the area.  She may or may not also start whining when her pleas of excitement are ignored.

4.  She asks me to sing.  I only have so much lung capacity, and I'm usually using almost all of it already.

3.  She likes to take control of our running routes, and will start pointing in directions I was not planning to go, insisting "this way, mommy!".  If I listened to her, we may be running for a long, LONG time.

2.  She's no lightweight.  She's packed on quite a few pounds since last fall it seems, and you definitely notice the extra weight on the hills.

1.  There are dogs everywhere.  And birds.  And cars.  And anytime Emily sees something she likes, she'll point it out, or ask about it, and she keeps repeating herself like a broken record until you acknowledge that she has spoken or responded to her questions.  This leads to a considerable amount of huffing and puffing by the end of an average four mile run.  It feels more like fourteen.

Still, having the freedom to go out for a run again almost anytime I want has been wonderful.  The fresh air and the sunshine has been good for the soul this week, and we've enjoyed every minute of it!  Come on spring!

The Saturday Six?

I missed the Friday Five yesterday.  I knew it would happen sooner or later, but I was hoping for later.  Oh well.  As a way to make up for it, I've decided to embark on the Saturday Six instead.  One of the things that kept me busy yesterday was the monthly meeting of our book club.  This book club has been together since November of 2007, and the same 10 or so ladies have met once each month to discuss our current selection.  We even have a name, the Read Wine book club!  I don't remember who came up with it (it wasn't me, so I can't take the credit) but I love the time we spend together.  Eric likes to tease me that we don't talk about the book very much, but we really do.  I mean, we're *usually* engaged in book related talk a solid 40 to 50% of the time we spend together!  Anyway, out of all the books we've read, here are my top six.  And this time they are in order, with number one being my all-time favorite.

6.  Belong to Me (Marisa De los Santos).  This was a fiction novel that was actually a sequel to a previous work, though it was easy enough to read this as a stand alone effort.  The characters were engaging, and witty, the story lines moved along nicely, and it was a pretty easy read.  I really enjoyed it!

5.  Loving Frank (Nancy Horan).  This was a piece of historical fiction that I really enjoyed.  The characters were complex, if their choices were sometimes frustrating, and it was fun to follow this partly imagined, partly true complex love story unfold.  Quite the ending too!

4.  A Homemade Life (Molly Wizenberg).  This was a super fun read because it incorporated short stories from throughout the author's life with recipes she associates with that time.  We all brought our favorite recipe to our meeting that month.  Yummy!

3.  The Namesake (Jhumpa Lahiri).  A coming of age story about an Indian American boy growing up in the NE United States.  The writing is phenomenal, and utterly believable.  The characters are very endearing.

2.  Same Kind of Different As Me (Ron Hall, Deborah Moore, and Lynn Vincent). A story so incredible no novelist would dare dream it.  I'm stealing a tag line from Amazon here, because it fits so well.  This is a very powerful, compelling, inspiring story about faith and the power we all hold to change one another's lives.

1.  American Wife (Curtis Sittenfeld).  This was another historical fiction piece, loosely based on the life or Laura Bush, and it was utterly captivating to me.  I love this genre, and I couldn't put this book down.  It seemed so plausible, the characters were flawed but totally redeemable, and I loved every minute of reading it.  I also quickly read the other two books this author had written, but found this one was easily the best.

You should check out these books if you're looking for a good read!