The Accidental Boilermaker

Happy Valentines Day

2012-02-14T16:51:00.001-05:00

It snowed last night so Nate cleaned off my car. What a sweetie : )

Birthday Celebration

2012-02-12T15:34:00.004-05:00

My grandpa turns 75 this month so we surprised him by meeting up for lunch in Champaign yesterday. We also celebrated Mimi's birthday and their 54th wedding anniversary.

The birthday boy and girl

Uncle Dean and Aunt Martha were crucial in getting Mimi and Grandpa to Champaign

Nate and my dad hanging out at the end of the table

Sisters

All four of us

Love your heart

2012-02-02T14:38:00.005-05:00

February is American Heart Month and tomorrow is Go Red for Women. I listened online yesterday to the 2nd Annual State of Women's Heart Health and I learned some scary statistics.

Every 90 seconds in United States a woman suffers a heart attack
Every minute a woman dies of cardiovascular disease in the US
Experts estimate that 1 out of 2 American women will die of heart disease or stroke

But so many cases of heart disease are preventable! So remember stay away from salt, extra fat, and refined sugars. Choose instead lean meats, whole grains, and lots of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. Try to exercise for at least 30 minutes 3-5 days per week. And know your numbers!

Blood pressure < 120/80
LDL (bad) cholesterol < 100; HDL (good) cholesterol > 40 (for men) > 50 (for women); Triglycerides <150
Fasting blood glucose between 80-100
Body Mass Index <25

Don't forget to wear red tomorrow and show your support for the fight against heart disease!

Grass

2012-01-15T20:49:00.002-05:00

Penny loves her Christmas present from Flurry (and Ben and Amanda). Apparently grass is good for cats even though they can't digest it. We googled it and the grass has fiber and nutrients that are extracted and then she throws up the grass when she's done.

Happy not colonoscopy day!

2012-01-12T16:25:00.002-05:00

I was supposed to get a colonoscopy today, but after becoming frustrated with my insurance and my doctor's office, I cancelled. So instead, I got to do a bunch of other fun stuff:

1. Craft night yesterday with girls from small group.

2. Not having to work since I already had the day off.

3. Getting my run in before the snow started.

4. Lunch out with my sister for sushi.

5. Baking a pie for when Nate gets home.

Mission Possible: Date Night

2012-01-06T21:50:00.002-05:00

Friday night = date night. Nate and I went out to dinner to Puccini's and shared a veg-head pizza and then saw the new Mission Impossible movie. Which, despite our expectations, actually was a pretty good movie.

And this caused us to reflect on the previous 3 Mission Impossible movies. #1 is definitely the best. I watched it a lot as a kid. #2 is probably the worst. I can say this because although I never saw #3 in it's entirety, I did see the second movie three times in the theater (don't ask). So, as Nate put it, if you want to see a movie that doesn't make you think too hard, go see Ghost Protocol.

Christmas in review

2012-01-02T20:53:00.005-05:00

Christmas is officially over. You can read happy and sad in that statement. I didn't take a lot of pictures to document Christmas 2011 but here's a few.

Kate and her mountain of gifts

Me and Meredith

Daddy and his nice new shirt

Family picture

New nephew

Another marathon?

2011-12-11T19:27:00.005-05:00

If you've ever run a race or competed in some sort of event, you might understand this post.

My mom emailed me an article about the West Lafayette Circular Logic Marathon. Is it crazy to even consider signing-up for this event? The website makes it sound so fun (and it's cheap for a marathon), you forget that the race is a one-mile loop that you run 26 times! Take for example the amenities:

Two sets of real restrooms!!

Aid Station every single mile!!

Flat course with only 26 feet of elevation change per mile!!

No street crossings!!

What more could you ask for in a race? But I wonder, you would feel even more insane after running 26 miles in a circle than you do after 26 miles in a line? Or would the quick familiarity of your surroundings make the miles seem to go by faster? The longest I've ever run on the treadmill was 12 miles (and I've done it at least twice). Let me tell you, it wasn't much fun either time. Would this race be like that, except like 10 times worse? Would it be fun seeing your cheerleading crew every ten minutes or would they refuse to watch you run in a circle for 4+ hours?

The biggest challenge however is the prospect of training in the middle of winter.  That truly sounds horrible.  Anyway, the real question, the real reason for the post is, I've run 2 marathons and a couple halves, can I do another?  Can I run 26.2 miles in a circle, am I strong/crazy enough?

Marathon #2

2011-11-05T18:18:00.004-04:00

I ran my second Indianapolis Monumental Marathon today. Compared to the last time, I did and felt lots better. My family was there to cheer me on. Kate, Meredith and my dad even ran a 5K.

It was dark and pretty cold at the start of the race

At mile 20

I finished! Final time 4:30.53 - 8 minutes faster than two years ago!

Weekend in Chicago

2011-10-09T20:22:00.004-04:00

Took a trip to Chicago this weekend to see Kate, watch the Chicago Marathon, and go to the Brookfield Zoo (my birthday present from Nate). Everything was a blast.

This guy was my second favorite animal. The river otter did not photograph well as he was having too much fun swimming to pose for pictures.

Nate pretending to be a polar bear. Very scary.

We really wanted these stuffed animals but Nate said no.

With our Dad at the finish of the marathon

Jedi cupcakes

2011-08-22T20:40:00.002-04:00

Check out the super cool birthday present Kate gave me!

Cookie cake time

2011-08-09T22:26:00.006-04:00

The only present I ever need.

As some may recall, Nate gets me a giant cookie cake for my birthday every year. I got to pick this one out and while it seems to be more patriotic in nature, you have to remember that the icing to cookie ratio is more important than the design.

2008

2009

2010

Mini Marathon

2011-05-07T17:45:00.003-04:00

My dad and I ran the mini marathon today in Indy!

You can't tell, but it was actually raining pretty good at the finish. Overall though, the weather was perfect. Nate and my mom were there to watch. We finished together, 2:13:13.

Montreal - Day 5

2011-04-08T18:47:00.004-04:00

Sunday we said goodbye to Montreal. I would love to go back someday.

Montreal has a nice Chinatown and on Thursday Nate's lab mate discovered this little shop that sold really good Vietnamese sandwiches. I think we stopped in there everyday and on Saturday made sure we had some for the drive back.

We got back to the Burlington early, so we decided to check out Lake Champlain and the downtown before checking in at the airport.

Even after walking around Burlington, we were pretty early. For a good hour and a half, we were literally the only people in the airport.

Our trip home ended up being pretty exciting. We had to run through the Detroit airport to catch our flight back to Indy, but we made it and so did our luggage. Overall, we had a really great trip : )

Montreal - Day 4

2011-04-07T19:10:00.005-04:00

Saturday was our last full day in Montreal. The one place I really wanted to visit was the Biodome.

Originally built as a velodrome for the '76 Olympics, it now houses 5 different ecosystems of the Americas.

A golden tamarin in the tropical rainforest.

Penguins from the Arctic.

The Olympic Tower

Saturday night after dinner, we took the metro out to buy some bagels for breakfast (apparently Montreal has its own distinct variation on the bagel) and on the way, we noticed these very nice bike lanes. Montreal takes its bikers very seriously.

Montreal - Day 3

2011-04-06T20:37:00.006-04:00

Friday, Nate and I explored Old Montreal. It's where the first French settlers originally landed and started what they called Ville Marie. We had the absolute best breakfast at this cute cafe/bakery in Old Montreal before going to the Pointe-a-Calliere museum.

Pointe-a-Calliere is supposed to mark the birthplace of Montreal. Today it serves as a pretty cool archaeology museum that traces Montreal's history from the Native Indians that first lived in the area to the French settlers to modern day.

You can go up to the very top of the museum too and get a pretty good look around.

The foundations of the buildings on the left actually sit on remains of the wall that once surrounded Ville Marie (aka Montreal).

After leaving the museum, we did some more walking around and stopped in this little chapel, Notre Dame de Bon Secours. It's one of the oldest church in Montreal.

Montreal - Day 2

2011-04-05T21:07:00.007-04:00

Thursday was a big day for Nate. His presentation started at 8:30. It must have gone amazing because everyone else in his symposium group spent the rest of the trip raving about how well he did.

I struck out on my own to explore Montreal while Nate was at the conference. I wasn't sure what to do since a lot of museums and stores didn't open till 10:00 but I found a museum at McGill College that opened early and was free! Called the Redpath Museum, it was a natural history museum featuring mostly minerals, animals and fossils from Quebec and Canada, but also some stuff from around the world too.

This triceratops was found in Saskatchewan.

The mummy is not from Canada but I thought it was cool how they used x-rays to "look inside" so they wouldn't disturb the wrappings.

After that, I decided the best time to shop was when Nate wasn't around so I explored the city underneath the city - Montreal's expansive underground shopping network. On my way back to the hotel, I stopped at the Marie Reine du Monde Cathedrale. The church was designed after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and it was very beautiful and ornate inside.

We spent the rest of the evening celebrating successful presentations and finally ended up eating dinner at this Jame Bond themed restaurant in Montreal's Little Italy neighborhood.

Montreal - Day 1

2011-04-04T21:57:00.005-04:00

Our trip to Montreal started very early Wednesday morning. We left for the Indianapolis Airport at 3:30am. The first time I felt awake enough to take a picture is flying over Lake Champlain to Burlington, Vermont.

From Burlington, we drove to Montreal which turned out to be incredibly easy despite the all French road signs.

After checking into the hotel, we unpacked a little and then ventured out to find the convention center for Nate and something to eat for dinner. Both endeavors were successful and I basically relaxed in the room while Nate practiced his presentation for next morning. All in all, it was a long, but good day.

I promise much more interesting photos tomorrow.

New Fridge Friday

2011-03-12T18:23:00.004-05:00

Okay, you're right - it's Saturday, but we got our new fridge yesterday. Our old fridge just kind of stopped keeping food cold and the beauty of living in an apartment is that you often get stuff fixed for free. And this new fridge is definitely an upgrade.

Old fridge

New fridge

Much better

Hustle up the Hancock

2011-03-01T21:15:00.005-05:00

We were in Chicago this weekend to support Meredith in her effort to run up the 94 flights of the John Hancock building. If the child wasn't crazy enough, she managed to finish in 21:05 - pretty amazing!

Getting ready for the climb

Lake Shore Drive

Navy Pier

A view from the top

The support team

All finished!

Daisies

2011-02-19T19:37:00.002-05:00

I went to a bridal shower today for the future daughter-in-law of a woman I work with. I have never met either this girl or the groom, but I still had fun. We played this game where you had to memorize as many kitchen utensils attached to an apron as you could. Whoever remembered the most won a centerpiece. Well, as you can see, I really wanted to win these beautiful gerbers so with the help of my work friends, we remembered all the utensils. Hurray!

Box of chocolates

2011-02-12T19:47:00.004-05:00

I got my Valentine's Day present early. Nate bought me a box of chocolates. They are made in Attica which is about 45 minutes southwest of us, but they have a little store in Lafayette too. And I can tell you they are really good because we've almost eaten the whole box.

Yum, coconut. My favorite.

Super bowl joke

2011-02-06T12:18:00.003-05:00

We have a phase III patient who prints out a stack of jokes for us at least once a week. Most are pretty funny, but this one really made us laugh on Friday.

Super Bowl Seat

A woman had 50 yard line tickets for the Super Bowl. As she sat down, a man came along and asked her if anyone was sitting in the seat next to her.

"No," she said, "the seat is empty."

"This is incredible," said the man, "Who in their right mind would have a seat like this for the Super Bowl, the biggest sporting event in the world, and not use it?"

Somberly, the woman says, "Well...the seat actually belongs to me. I was supposed to come here with my husband, but he passed away. This is the first Super Bowl we have not been to together since we got married in 1967."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, that's terrible. But couldn't you find someone else - a friend or relative or even a neighbor to take the seat?"

The woman shakes her head and says, "No, they're all at the funeral."

Haha : )

Snow Day

2011-02-02T18:50:00.002-05:00

Another snow day for me and Nate. Here's a snap shot of how we spent the time.

Nate's all excited about Purdue cancelling classes for the second day in a row. Plus we had just bought our plane tickets for Montreal!

Nate tried to drive me to work this morning but we got stuck, twice.

Penny didn't seem to notice that we were home. She settled down in her usual spot on the bed and slept all morning.

I made a pumpkin pie for Nate. Then we took a really big nap. I love snow days.

Monday

2011-01-31T19:44:00.004-05:00

Haven't posted in a while and don't have much to say. Nate was sick and he was kind enough to share his cold with me. But I think we took good care of each other. We went through a lot of kleenex.

Tonight we had leftover meatloaf for dinner. Nate reheated his first and used the last of the ketchup. I gave him a hard time about it and he first said he thought he was leaving me some (there really was none left). He later admitted he used all of it and honestly thought I would use bbq sauce. Which I did consider for a brief moment, but decided it was too weird.

He redeemed himself after dishes when I accused him of not listening to me and he was able to repeat, verbatim, everything I said.

New quilt

2011-01-11T19:08:00.002-05:00

Our new quilt Amanda gave us for Christmas looks amazing on our bed. I think Penny has finally adjusted, but she was a little suspicious at first.

Making dinner

2011-01-04T21:17:00.005-05:00

I was super bored last night. I tried to amuse myself by watching episodes of The Closer and by bothering Nate who was trying to read a book (neither of these things really worked). So I decided today I would avoid boredom by making dinner - spaghetti frittata with a wilted spinach salad. Talk about yum.

6 eggs in this frittata (yikes!)

And a whole bunch of bacon. So it wasn't the healthiest dinner, but Nate really liked it.

The finished product. I think I liked the spinach better than the pasta.

And the aftermath (I tend to be a very messy cook), but Nate helped me do dishes.

Happy new year!

2011-01-01T12:42:00.004-05:00

Nate and I had a very relaxing New Years Eve. We cleaned, watched a movie (The Visitor - we both recommend it, but beware, it's not a happy movie), and watched the ball drop in NYC before heading to bed.

Today I made scones from this cute mix my mom and sister packaged up as Christmas presents.

Add some extra wet ingredients, mix it all together, bake...

and you get these yummy, crumbly scones : )

I also used my new dehydrator yesterday to make some apple and banana chips and mango leathers. The picture isn't the greatest, but they taste really good. I'm making apple rings today.

face painting

2010-12-11T15:05:00.004-05:00

This morning, instead of having to work (yay!) I got to do some face painting at a breakfast with Santa at the Subaru plant in Lafayette. I came to dread a child asking for Rudolph, but got pretty good at snowmen and Santa. The last kid I had - a 10 or so year old boy - had a special request...

Kid: Do I have to chose from the Christmas ones or can you do something else.

Me (becoming a little nervous): Well...it depends. I have to be able to draw it (because I'm so good at Rudolph and poinsettias, right).

Kid: I want a big star over my eye, like KISS.

Me (slightly startled, mostly by the fact that this kid even knows who KISS is): Um...sure. (Are you sure you don't want a nice Christmas tree?) Now, what exactly does it look like (I know who KISS is, but when he said star over my eye, all I could picture was Lady Gaga).

Kid: You know, just a big white star and then outline it in black (Which I guess isn't technically right, it's an all black star, but close enough).

Me: Okay. (I started painting) How do you know who KISS is anyway?

Kid: I saw them on TV. (The Dr. Pepper commercials?) And I heard one of their songs and I love it! It's my favorite song!

Me: Cool. Here's the mirror, what do you think? (Now I didn't paint completely over his entire upper and lower eye, I was a little worried the paint would irritate it or his mom would kill me).

Kid: It looks great!

And then he turns around to show his mom, who at first is very surprised to find I've covered half of her son's face with paint and then utters...

Mom: Oh, it's KISS! Cool.

Wow. Thank goodness I didn't have too many special requests like that.

Molasses

2010-11-29T20:52:00.003-05:00

Yesterday and today, I tried my hand at two different recipes calling for molasses.

A molasses swirl bread for toast and sandwiches

Molasses spice cookies to help Nate get over his cold

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T14:53:00.003-05:00

I'm thankful for the weekend I got to spend with my family in Decatur. We ate a ton of really good food and mostly just relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. It was a very nice Thanksgiving.

Turkey with all the fixings

Kate and Meredith being silly

Me and Kate being silly

We all went for a run to burn off those extra calories

all things pumpkin

2010-11-14T20:34:00.004-05:00

I love pumpkins and all things pumpkin flavored. Ask Nate, every time we go grocery shopping, I snag a can of pumpkin puree so I have plenty on hand. This weekend I made pumpkin fudge and pumpkin lattes - way better than those expensive ones from Starbucks.

I also love cranberries and I found a recipe that combines my two loves - pumpkin cranberry bread.

This is the third variety of pumpkin bread I've made this fall and I think by far the best.

Weekend in the Windy City

2010-11-09T18:00:00.004-05:00

I spent the weekend in Chicago to celebrate Kate's birthday (which was yesterday). My Mimi came up from Decatur too but she didn't know I was coming, so me and Kate surprised her.

We went to Navy Pier to see an art expo that Kate was super excited about. It was pretty neat and we got to see a glass blowing exhibit that was really cool. Mimi took us to Grand Lux Cafe for lunch and then we shopped around Michigan Ave until it was time for Mimi to catch her bus ride back home.

Sunday, Kate and I went to Hyde Park for breakfast. She showed me around University of Chicago and then we tried to read/study on campus, but we both ended up falling asleep. My parents drove up for lunch and then took me back to the train station. When I got to Lafayette, Nate was waiting for me with a rose. All in all, it was a fun weekend.

SOFA exhibit at Navy Pier

Skyline

The birthday girl

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T20:14:00.003-04:00

Me and Meredith ran a Halloween 5K today. If you dressed up, you got a free t-shirt. I ran in my lab coat (I wanted to stay in costume) but that wasn't the greatest idea. It was pretty windy and my coat just ballooned out behind me which created a fair amount of resistance. Oh well - It was lots of fun anyway : )

Flu Shot

2010-10-28T18:25:00.003-04:00

Check out this quick quiz about the flu from the CDC. Some of the questions are kind of tricky...

Flu IQ Widget.
Flash Player 9 is required.

pumpkin carving

2010-10-26T22:04:00.003-04:00

My two pumpkins

My Jack Skellington pumpkin - I used a picture to help me. This is probably the most complicated pumpkin I've ever carved. Especially because during my entire childhood, my dad did all the carving.

All lit up - very scary

My other guy - he took significantly less time. You know the best part about carving pumpkins? Pumpkin seeds! I've got mine roasting in the oven right now, yum.

Homecoming

2010-10-17T17:58:00.003-04:00

It was Homecoming at Purdue this weekend. My parents came down to watch Meredith walk in the night train parade and row on the Wabash. I made a pumpkin pie for everybody to enjoy too.

pumpkin pie : )

Boilermaker extra special

Meredith, just after rowing - it was really cold.

M's boyfriend rowing (he's the last one)

Crockpot dinner

2010-10-16T14:58:00.009-04:00

Thursdays are my favorite day of the week. I get off at noon, but Nate doesn't get home till late. So I've been making dinner in the crockpot and then we get to eat dinner together. This Thursday we had cornish hens.

With some potatoes and carrots, it was actually pretty good. Quite the adventure - I don't think we'll be making this again any time soon though.

The leaves are beautiful right now and I'm fortunate enough to have a really nice path to run along, so I decided to take my camera with me on my run Thursday and snap a few pictures.

New running shoes!

2010-10-10T13:21:00.004-04:00

I got a new pair of running shoes on Friday. There's a neat little running and triathlon store in Lafayette that I like to go to because they really spend time helping you find the right pair of shoes. I bought a pair of New Balance - I've been running in Asics for the past few years. And that got me thinking about my old running shoes, all of which I still have much to Nathan's frustration. I have a hard time throwing them out because they're like old friends; I can't help but think about all the fun we've had together. Lame, I know.

New shoes

Old shoes

Each pair tells a story. The very first ones, the really dirty ones, were my first official pair of running shoes - shoes I bought for the sole purpose of running. I trained and ran my first 1/2 marathon (the Chicago Distance Classic) in these shoes with my dad. Now they're my garden shoes.

The next pair didn't see too much action, just a lot of running around Holland while in college.

The green Asics were my first Indiana running shoes. I did the Mini Marathon in Indy with my dad in these guys.

The second to last pair I got for my first marathon last November. Now they're my work-out shoes.

The pink Asics I bought for the trail 1/2 marathon I did this April and I ran in them all summer. Their last go was a 13 mile run just yesterday. Tuesday I switch over the new shoes and leave behind yet another pair of super comfy shoes that I know I just won't be able to say goodbye to.

this and that

2010-09-23T21:43:00.004-04:00

It's been one week since I got those pesky wisdom teeth out, but I am feel lots better. I made spaghetti and meatballs tonight for dinner - probably the most normal (and substantial) thing I've eaten all week.

Last night Nate bought me a pot of beautiful yellow and orange mums! I didn't see them till I woke up this morning.

A Penny for your thoughts

2010-09-18T18:58:00.004-04:00

Other than getting to see my mom and Meredith, getting my wisdom teeth out was not fun. Nate took the day off from work on Friday and stayed home with me, so that was nice too. I did get to run a little this morning and that helped me feel better. Then I spent a good part of the morning and again in the afternoon, sleeping. I still can't chew anything and that's super annoying too.

Here's some pictures of Penny because she always cheers me up.

foods that don't require chewing

2010-09-14T20:43:00.002-04:00

I've stocked up on foods I can eat after I get my wisdom teeth out on Thursday.

Maroon 5

2010-09-02T11:13:00.004-04:00

I saw got to see Maroon 5 in concert last night in Indy with my mom. They were amazing! It was really fun to see the different types of people who came out for the concert - alot of older women (no offense to my mom). There were some cute teenie boppers in the row ahead of us who only knew Maroon 5 most recent songs. When they played something off of Songs about Jane they just looked at each other, shrugged, and then kept dancing. That made me feel like a real fan and also made me feel kind of old.

vinegared red onions

2010-08-17T22:46:00.003-04:00

remember those red onions?

a fun weekend

2010-08-15T20:45:00.004-04:00

Pat and Paul came down for the weekend. They brought a desk for Nate, taught us a new card game, and took us out to eat. It was lots of fun. I tried making spritz cookies for when they got in Friday night. The first batch turned out really well. The second batch not so much. The dough and cookie sheet got too warm. I guess that's why they are more a Christmas time treat.

The second batch had a more tie-dye look because I had to keep putting the dough back in the cookie press.

Tons of tomatoes! Not enough for pasta sauce yet though.

I picked the rest of my red onions today.

adventures in canning

2010-08-08T16:56:00.003-04:00

Nate and I canned green beans last night. It was quite the process but it was fun.

Heating up jars and lids

Green beans ready to be cooked

Jars lined up in the pressure canner

The final product

Birthday : )

2010-08-05T21:19:00.003-04:00

Nate always gets me a giant cookie cake for my birthday. The more icing the better.

And he bought me some beautiful yellow roses.

We went to Arni's for dinner too. We ate a whole 14'' pizza. Our waitress said she's never seen two people finish one off entirely.

Pickled green beans

2010-08-01T14:30:00.003-04:00

My first attempt at canning. It's not true canning because the jars are aren't boiled and sealed. The green beans will be ready in 4 days and will only last about a month. But you've got to start somewhere.

Here's the link to the recipe.

Thursday at the garden

2010-07-30T20:27:00.004-04:00

I know most of these posts are garden/food oriented, but really, that's kind of how we define our days.

Our out-of-control cherry tomato plant

Watermelon!

This is my ornamental squash plant, but I don't think it's going to give me any little squashes

Some days I feel like we could feed an army

BLT & E

2010-07-27T20:23:00.002-04:00

Fun stuff

2010-07-24T15:41:00.003-04:00

Our first eggplant

stuffed peppers, yum

My grandma found 3 volunteer sunflowers in our garden plot when she and my grandpa came down to help us get started. By the time I had my camera this guy had already started to droop so it was hard to take a picture.

garden food

2010-07-15T09:04:00.002-04:00

yellow squash bread (not as good as zucchini bread)

zucchini-squash and ricotta galette

zucchini and squash parmesan

more veggies

2010-06-29T21:50:00.003-04:00

Kentucky

2010-06-27T20:07:00.005-04:00

Nate and I were in KY for a wedding this weekend. We got to stay with Kate, Sam, and Oliver which was a ton of fun. The wedding was great too : )

After the ceremony

Not the greatest picture, but trust me, they both looked wonderful

The cake

our garden

2010-06-20T17:24:00.004-04:00

Onions - we have red and yellow growing

Broccoli

Snow peas - it's so exciting how well these are growing, last year they got eaten by bunnies

Green beans

Our garden : )

First fruits

2010-06-16T21:20:00.002-04:00

(Did you notice the lettuce in the background?)

Graduation

2010-06-14T21:09:00.004-04:00

Kate graduated from DePaul on Sunday with a major in English and a minor in philosophy and art history. In the fall she'll start at the University of Chicago and work toward a masters in philosophy.

Penny and veggies

2010-06-10T21:19:00.003-04:00

I came home and found Penny taking a nap on the bed and she looked so comfy I couldn't resist a picture.

More radishes and one little green onion I accidentally picked when pulling weeds.

You guessed it, more lettuce. But what a another week or so, I'll have pictures of all the zucchini and squash that's coming in.

Portrait of a radish

2010-06-07T20:41:00.001-04:00

garden

2010-06-03T21:22:00.000-04:00

More lettuce!

Salad

2010-05-25T20:29:00.002-04:00

From the garden...

to the plate.

Purple asparagus

2010-05-24T21:28:00.002-04:00

We had oven roasted purple asparagus last night, but after it had been in the oven it lost its purple color and turned back to green. But they were yummy.

Happily ever after

2010-05-23T19:49:00.003-04:00

Our friends from Purdue got married yesterday. It was a beautiful ceremony.

the happy couple

the get-away car

yummy cake

Frost

2010-05-09T20:28:00.002-04:00

Frost - the enemy of green pepper plants everywhere. We had a frost advisory last night so we covered up some of our more delicate plants with old t-shirts supported by a little tee pee of sticks. Tonight we did the same even though our county isn't supposed to get frost but the dew point could drop below 32 (even though the air temp probably won't). It's better to be safe than sorry.

more rhubarb

2010-05-07T20:07:00.004-04:00

I used up the rest of our rhubarb this week. I made another pie, this one with a crumble topping, for our intern's last day. I blind baked the bottom crust to keep it from getting soggy and it worked pretty well. I also made rhubarb bread. I put more in rhubarb than what the recipe called for so it was super gooey, but still good.

Yesterday my grandparents came over to help us get our garden started. We got just about everything planted - brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce, radishes, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, pepper, greens beans, and snow peas. It might frost tomorrow night, so we're gearing up to protect our plants.

New car

2010-05-01T22:21:00.003-04:00

We got a new car! A 2009 Toyota Corolla. We also got a whole bunch of rhubarb from one of the psych secretaries. I made a pie this evening, but we still have a lot of rhubarb left.

whole numbers

2010-04-26T21:08:00.002-04:00

Setting: our bedroom, about 6:00am

Me: (standing at the foot of our bed, gently shaking Nate's toes to wake him up.) Hey, it's time to get up.

Nate: (incomprehensible mumbling.) Did you wake up on a whole number?

Me: What do you mean a whole number?

Nate: (more mumbling.) You know, like 40, 50, 60.

Me: Nate, that doesn't make any sense.

But by that point, he had already fallen back asleep. When I mentioned the conversation with him later, Nate had no memory of anything having to do with whole numbers. Who knows what he was dreaming about.

Wedding in Michigan

2010-04-18T19:59:00.003-04:00

We were in Michigan for Sondra and Alaric's wedding. It was a blast! Then we got to spend some time with Pat and Paul and that was equally fun.

the bride and groom

me and nate

lots of fun dancing

my first conference

2010-04-15T20:33:00.004-04:00

I went to the annual meeting for the Indiana Society of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehab in Indy today. Overall, it was pretty good and I learned alot. And I won a model heart in a raffle!

My favorite presentation was about congestive heart failure and patients who get ventricular assist devices. It was interesting because it really addressed the concerns staff might have about getting a patient with a VAD and the speaker stressed how these patients really are no different than any other patient in cardiac rehab. They can exercise and they greatly benefit from exercise. I personally haven't ever worked with a VAD patient however.

adventures in cooking

2010-04-14T20:47:00.003-04:00

We had a venison tenderloin for dinner tonight with oven roasted asparagus. The venison was a little bit of an adventure. I spent quite awhile last night searching for a recipe that was both simple and didn't require a trip to the grocery store. I found this recipe - Grilled Hoisin Marinated Venison Loin - and surprising had most the ingredients except for the hoisin sauce. So I searched for a substitute for that and you know what, it turned out really good!

today has been brought to you by coconut

2010-04-10T20:47:00.003-04:00

I hate it when a recipe calls for a relatively small amount of an fairly obscure ingredient - for example, coconut. You buy the coconut and make the recipe, but you don't want the rest of the bag to go to waste. So what do you do? Spend Saturday afternoon making coconut themed treats.

Even after all that baking, there's still a little left.

Chocolate dipped coconut macaroons and chewy coconut granola bars.

race picture

2010-04-07T20:08:00.003-04:00

Before I got all muddy.

Planet Adventure 1/2 marathon

2010-04-03T18:56:00.003-04:00

Running this trail race was probably one of the craziest things I've done. We jumped over logs, climbed up embankments. The course consisted of mud, mud, sand and more mud. But it was a ton of fun too.

is it spring or summer?

2010-04-01T21:51:00.002-04:00

It felt like summer today. In fact I got a little sun this afternoon running.

Nate and I made a special dinner tonight - caramelized onion baked potatoes and rib-eye steaks (I forgot to buy a veggie at Target). We also had a fairly good cabernet sauvignon.

Then we took ride to see where my race starts on Saturday and he showed me where he did his practice crit racing. Those curves do look tricky.

new hair cut

2010-03-29T21:57:00.002-04:00

Nate says I look like Kate. It probably looked better before I worked out. But it won't look like this once it hits the shower tomorrow morning.

really big post

2010-03-27T21:07:00.003-04:00

I just didn't have the energy to post anything this week. I don't have a lot of energy now either, but I thought I'd give a brief week-in-review.

Monday and Tuesday, Kate and my mom were here on their way home from Decatur. Meredith came over for dinner too.

Wednesday was just a really long day.

Thursday, I got an embarrassing number of cavities filled and it rained all day. I went to the dentist in my running clothes in an attempt to force myself to get out and run in the rain (which did work).

Friday, I fell asleep on the couch at 8:30 and Purdue lost.

Saturday was my first Saturday at the new hospital - kind of stressful. I got to listen to a cardiologist try to scare the sh** into a patient to get him to quit smoking - I don't think scare tactics work, but that's just me. Got home around 12:30 and ran 12 miles while Nate went on his bike ride.

C'est tout.

Pictures

2010-03-15T21:27:00.002-04:00

Nate all dressed up for his interview at the Logansport state hopsital - wouldn't you hire him?

Nate's new baseball hat

T-shirt from my cousin's gold medal run at the artisan Olympics

The winning sculpture

Study: Women Who Drink Tend to Be Thinner

2010-03-08T18:37:00.000-05:00

Study: Women Who Drink Tend to Be Thinner

Maybe I should drink more? Probably won't happen, but it's an interesting article.

Happy Birthday Nate!

2010-03-03T20:51:00.002-05:00

Good morning birthday boy

Birthday bike ride

Birthday presents

bored

2010-03-01T20:01:00.002-05:00

Don't tell Nate, but man am I bored. He and Meredith think I get bored all the time - which most of the time isn't the case. I'm mostly bored just during the weekend.

NCIS was reruns on USA so I started watching the Colbert Report and then the Daily Show on Hulu, but then John Stewart was boring (kind of a recurring theme), so I went back to NCIS. Thankfully, it's one I haven't seen yet.

Today was busy at work, but tomorrow there's no orientations so I negotiated a half day. Not the way you might think - I got my boss to let me work the morning so I can get my hours. He might have over 200 hrs PTO, but I sure don't. Not that I'm complaining.

The good, the bad, and...new shoes!

2010-02-25T19:04:00.003-05:00

Nate passed his prelim proposal today! I wanted to take a picture of him looking all spiffy in his nice clothes this morning, but he decided earlier in the week to bring and leave his clothes in his office. So this is him tonight, relaxing on the couch, watching Jeopardy, revealing in his academic success.

I volunteered to help with the move to the new hospital today. I ended up sitting for three hours in the basement with a bunch of very funny IT people - I was supposed to help clean. I did get paid, but it was a total waste of time. Who would think that in the midst of moving practically a whole hospital, they would have nothing for me and 2 other people to do? Here's a picture of the new hospital. It's really pretty inside. I'll only work every 4th Saturday there.

Finally, I got new running shoes. One more step toward signing up for that 1/2 marathon in April.

work stuff

2010-02-20T18:59:00.003-05:00

We just finished cardiac rehab week at the hospital. We didn't do anything fancy except wear this nifty shirt all week. I got to take Thursday off from work because there wasn't enough to do - kind of a catch-22.

It was my Saturday to work. I was talking to an open heart, getting them ready to walk and the surgeon comes in. I just step aside and wait till he is finished, but the surgeon keeps looking at me, trying to figure out why I'm there. He looks at my name badge but apparently misses the big heart shaped pin on my lab coat that says cardiac rehab. Once he leaves, we go for our walk and pass the nurses station and the surgeon is just staring at us. After we get back, he starts quizzing me about why I'm walking his patient - he's never seen an exercise physiologist walk open hearts. I work in cardiac rehab I explain, we have a rotating Saturday schedule. What makes you an exercise physiologist he asks. What kind of question is that - I have a masters in exercise physiology, it was bizarre not to mention stressful. I understand he was doing his job but I was doing mine too. The rest of the day went much better.

bad days

2010-02-16T19:57:00.002-05:00

Why do we have bad days, especially days that are bad for no real reason? Nate told me today on our way home that he broke 2 copiers and a printer all in an attempt to run off stat quizzes that the professor forgot about. The kicker - after all that work, Nate was still 1 copy short. I mean, that's a pretty good reason for a bad day but me, I woke up and it was a bad day. I slept alright, got up on time, had a good hair day, really a lot of the characteristics for a good day but I was tired and grumpy and did not want to go to work. Why does that happen? I guess all I can do is try and make tomorrow better.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T18:23:00.004-05:00

I had a good Valentine's day. Nate bought me a box of chocolates which was exactly what I wanted since I knew a new diamond necklace and/or bracelet was probably not going to happen. Meredith went to Milwaukee yesterday to surprise a friend and my parents brought her back to school today, so they all came over for dinner tonight.

This is my Valentine's Day music video and even though the lyrics are kinda sad, I really like the video because it reminds me that everyone deserves to be loved for who they are and you don't know who that is until you get to know them.

new music

2010-02-06T13:35:00.004-05:00

I got an iTunes gift card from Pat and Paul for Christmas and since then, have been carefully contemplating what new CD or songs I wanted. I did not want to waste the money. A few days ago, I saw Lady Antebellum on Ellen and then heard them again on the radio and I knew right away, I want their CD. So that's what I bought today - Lady Antebellum "Need you now."

Don't forget!

2010-02-04T16:10:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow remember to wear red to show your support for the fight against heart disease. Or you can be like me and wear blue to support the Colts : )

Check out The Heart Truth for more info.

go bake a cake

2010-01-29T20:19:00.002-05:00

Just because you're sick doesn't mean you can't have fun.

sick...again

2010-01-28T13:30:00.003-05:00

Apparently I was sick enough today (I think it was a look and sound consensus) to not be allowed to see a new patient, get sent home early, and be told to take tomorrow off. Now Nate has mandated I take a nap. I have a pretty bad sore throat, but I hope this doesn't turn into the cold Nate had last week.

Since no one likes being sick, I have thought of some things that I really do like:

Shout wipes - they can get out almost any stain, even pen on my new khaki pants
Tech support guys who know how to fix your problem when even you aren't sure what the problem is
People who refer to themselves and their pet as "us"
Chai tea with a little half & half and honey
Watching Penny nap in the sun

Falafel

2010-01-23T18:59:00.002-05:00

We made falafel tonight and it was delicious! It was a box mix where you just add water, but we did make the cucumber sauce from scratch. Next time, we're going to make the falafel from scratch too.

disappointing dinner

2010-01-21T19:13:00.002-05:00

I tried making dinner in the crockpot - Lime Salsa Pork Chops - and it was really not very good. It had this weird bitter aftertaste. We did the best we could and then threw the rest away. I really don't like wasting food like that.

Burn Notice marathon on USA today. Not as good as NCIS, but it's starting to grow on me. Nate is still sick and it rained all day. I did the laundry but it isn't folded yet.

I already had a small bowl of ice cream after my run, but since dinner was bad, I think I'm going to have another.

There's nothing like a good book

2010-01-17T17:31:00.003-05:00

I just finished this book and I would definitely recommend it. I found the beginning a bit slow, but the plot picks up and really draws you in. The book takes place in Ireland and tells the story of a 100 year old woman - Roseanne - living in a mental institution who decides to record her heart wrenching, yet still beautiful life story. At the same time, it also follows the life of the institution's head psychiatrist who, for reasons unknown to him, has taken a special interest in Roseanne and decides to dig deeper into her past in order to find out what lead her to be institutionalized.

My favorite excerpt:

"There has never been a person in an old people's home that hasn't looked around dubiously at the other inhabitants. They are the old ones, they are the club that no one wants to join. But we are never old to ourselves. That is because at close of the day the ship we sail in is the soul, not the body." ~ Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture

Sad news

2010-01-14T15:22:00.002-05:00

The Tippecanoe School Corporation has to make some serious budget cuts as do many school systems across the state of Indiana and probably the whole nation. The reason I know this is because a nurse I work with, her husband is a PE teacher. PE, art, and music are three possible "special" classes on the chopping block. I feel bad for my co-worker, but I also feel bad for the students. Why do schools still feel these classes are optional or unimportant? Kids need to move and express themselves. Learning to read music or play an instrument is like learning a new language. Which reminds me that they might consider getting rid of foreign language requirements for the high schools. Gosh, school would be so boring if all there was was reading, writing, and arithmetic.

If you're interested you can read more here.

ukulele lovliness

2010-01-12T19:51:00.001-05:00

Enchilada Sunday

2010-01-10T18:25:00.003-05:00

I made chicken and vegetarian bean enchiladas today - yummy. I meant to take more pictures, but I got caught up in the cooking.

Snow day

2010-01-08T17:26:00.004-05:00

We got a fairly large winter storm over the past 2 days. Large for West Lafayette especially since the town's policy is wait and plow till everything is over and the roads are terrible and cars are in the ditch.

I got to leave work an hour and a half early on Thursday even though I really did have charts to work on, but when the boss says you can go home, you don't really have to tell me twice. I was asked and agreed to leave early today since by noon, we only had 4 patients show up for exercise. Nate's patient cancelled too, so we got to send the afternoon together and that's always nice.

The best part of the snow was my run yesterday. We got about 4 inches of fluffy snow which is so much fun to run through. I also got to use my yaktrax that Nate gave me last year for Christmas. And when you're outside in that fresh snow, everything is so white and peaceful. Plus, I like to imagine that drivers look at me and think, gee whiz that person is crazy to be running right now.

cold weather gear

2010-01-01T18:10:00.002-05:00

If the temperature is 6 below and you want to go for a run, this is what you wear.

2 pairs of socks
2 pairs of gloves
heavy tights and yoga pants
tank top
2 compression shirts
t-shirt
sweatshirt
face mask and hat
iPod

I was really quite comfortable.

wasting time

2009-12-29T21:11:00.004-05:00

Today at work my project was to figure out how to make 2 tasks last 6 hours. So I first spent 30 minutes in the cafeteria drinking coffee while my colleagues ate breakfast. Then I reviewed a chart for 30 minutes for a patient who never showed up. That brought me to about 9:30, so I cleaned every possible surface touched by human hands. Finally, I had to start task #1 - writing up exit reports - which I dragged out till about 11:30. I got to waste the last 30 minutes till lunch talking with a past patient. I took a nice, leisurely lunch and then began task #2 - creating graphs in excel for our department's end-of-the-year Performance Improvement report. I don't make the graphs look super fancy or anything, but I am seriously the only person who knows how to use excel.

Then I came home and ran 6 miles through an inch of snow - talk about a calf workout.

Purdue hates cardiac rehab

2009-12-22T20:49:00.003-05:00

I learned today that Purdue is switching some employees' health insurance from United Healthcare to Cigna. I'm not sure how many employees this will affect, but the big problem is that Cigna has a $30 co-pay per exercise session. The average patient comes to cardiac rehab 24 times, so that is $720 in co-pays! It's a sign of the times; my boss remarked that we're probably going to see more insurance companies charging co-pays for rehab. It is sad to think that even with insurance, some people can't afford the care they need.

Star Wars - In Concert

2009-12-13T19:23:00.004-05:00

Nate took me to see Star Wars - In Concert for my Christmas present. It was a lot of fun. The show was great, Anthony Daniels was funny, and the music was amazing. They had a little mini museum of original costumes you could look at before the show.

Medications and Musings

2009-12-10T18:08:00.005-05:00

I saw my first patient today on Effient. It is a platelet inhibitor just like Plavix. And if you're in cardiac rehab, you're probably on Plavix. Plavix is expensive. Its patent will expire in 2011, but with this new drug, patients may still pay through the nose to keep their stents open. I'm not sure if health care reform will help with the exorbitant medication prices out there, but I hope it does.

Maybe doctors won't just prescribe Effient because Eli Lilly has got them in their pocket but because it's best for their patient. Apparently, about 30% of Whites and Blacks (and 60% of Asians) have a gene variation that doesn't allow them to break down Plavix into its active form. So if these people have a new, shiny metal stent in a coronary artery and sticky platelets, they are at greater risk of suffering a blood clot and a subsequent heart attack or even stroke. Effient is easier to metabolize and therefore will work for most individuals, but carries a greater risk of bleeding compared to Plavix. And I learned that Effient is only FDA approved for angioplasty patients. Plavix can be prescribed for other conditions. I find pharmacy very interesting at times.

Finally, because I work with people everyday who don't know, I strongly believe everyone should know the signs and symptoms of a heart attack and stroke. If you know them already - hurray! Share them with someone who might not know. Fast action = time saved = heart and brain cells saved.