Recipe of the Week

The Ultimate Paella - it was so good! I'm not the only one saying that. I sent some home with a friend and they loved it as well!

Ingredients:
-spice mix for chicken, recipe follows
-1 (3 lb) frying chicken, cut into 10 pieces - I used chicken breast that we had in the freezer
-1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
-2 Spanish chorizo sausages, thickly sliced
-Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
-1 Spanish onion, diced
-4 garlic cloves crushed
-Bunch flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped, reserve some for garnish
-1 (15 oz) can whole tomatoes, drained and hand-crushed
-4 cups short grain Spanish rice
-6 cups water, warm
-Generous pinch saffron threads - I skipped this ingredient as it is around $24 an oz! Plus you have to crush it I think to use it...you can't just grab a pinch and use it. If you use it google what to do with it first.
-1 dozen littlenech clams, scrubbed
-1 lb jumbo shrimp, peeled and de-vained
-2 lobster tails - skipped this as well.
-1/2 cup sweet peas - if frozen thaw before using
-Lemon wedges, for serving

Special Equipment:
Large paella pan or wide shallow skillet (I used my largest regular skillet)

Directions:
Rub the spice mix all over the chicken and marinate chicken for 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Heat oil in a paella pan over medium-high heat. Saute the chorizo until browned, remove and reserve. Add chicken skin-side down and brown on all sides, turning with tongs. Add salt and freshly ground pepper. Remove from pan and reserve.

In the same pan, make a sofrito by sauteing the onions, garlic, and parsley. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes on a medium heat. Then, add tomatoes and cook until the mixture caramelizes a bit and the flavors meld. Fold in the rice and stir-fry to coat the grains. Pour in water and simmer for 10 minutes, gently moving the pan around so the rice cooks evenly and absorbs the liquid. Add chicken, chorizo, and saffron. Add the clams and shrimp, tucking them into the rice. The shrimp will take about 8 minutes to cook. Give the paella a good shake and let it simmer, without stirring, until the rice is al dente, for about 15 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, when the rice is filling the pan, add the lobster tails. When the paella is cooked and the rice looks fluffy and moist, turn the heat up for 40 seconds until you can smell the rice toast at the bottom, then it's perfect.

Cook's note: The ideal paella has a toasted rice bottom called socarrat.

Remove from heat and rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with peas, parsley and lemon wedges.

Spice Mix for Chicken:
1 tablespoons sweet paprika
2 teaspoons dried oregano
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture all over the chicken; marinate for 1 hour covered.

Enjoy...it is really good with a really cold beer!

First BBQ of the Season!

Mark and I had planned on going to Roller Durby Saturday night, but the weather was so nice that we decided to have friends over for an impromptu BBQ! A few photos from the BBQ...

Grace and Devin hanging out with Bishop.

Kiera playing...can't wait to see if Sky likes this as much as Kiera does!

Josh, Kaleena, Devin and Brian rocking out.

A few photos from last weekend...they finally made it from the camera to the computer.

Dad with his new shop vac and tool chest...he had no idea that was what he was getting for his birthday.

This is photo evidence of why he needed a tool chest...he had drilled holes in the old entertainment stand and was using that to hold all his tools. I love it that Dad will make do with whatever he has and is so thankful for simple things like a tool chest.

We spent last Saturday wine tasting with Paul and Candy...had some great wine! Can't wait to spend wine time in Prosser again!

TGIF!

So glad the weekend is almost here. We are kicking it off by spending some time with two of our favorite little ladies...Grace and Kiera. Bob and Michelle have plans this evening so Mark and I get to hang with the kiddos. Can't wait! To see the cuteness...a few pics from our camping trip a few weeks ago...

Little Miss Kiera is 8 ish months old.

Grace is 3 and really hard to get a good photo of...she is way too active for photo shoots!

The whole family: Michelle holding Grace, Bob holding Kiera, and Michelle's mom Mary.

Then Saturday I start off with Zumba, possible a bit of shopping with Michelle and then Mark and I are going to Roller Derby Saturday night! After watching Whip It I can't wait to see it live!!!

Sunday we get to visit with my good friend Lesley and her boyfriend Trevor...can't wait!

Adoption Update

Not much to update really, but I have not posted about it in a while (more on that later). We are still waiting for "the call" and in the meantime I'm still reading everything I can get my hands on. It has gotten to the point that I'm reading the same things over and over, so think it is time to stop. I am pretty confident I can find any info I need in the number of books that we have once we have the baby.

I still have not gotten to the inpatient, let's find a baby already stage yet. While I would be totally happy to bring baby home tomorrow I'm still enjoying what baby free time we have left as much as possible.

I feel for couples that deal with years of infertility and trying to have a baby and then they start this process. The added years of waiting for the adoption process to work must be really difficult emotionally and patients must start to wear thin.

As for not posting in a while - I needed a break I guess from advice and opinions. This whole process has been interesting as far as others and strong opinions they have regarding decisions we are having to make.

Adoption is not something you decide on a whim and pay some money and all of a sudden you have a baby. There is a lot of sole searching, paperwork, somewhat invasive screening, and lots and lots of choices to be made. It has forced us to take an honest look at ourselves, ask for advice from those with experience regarding some of the issues we have had to make decisions about, and listen to a fair amount of unwanted opinions. I have gotten a lot better at weeding out books, magazine articles, blogs, and newsletters that are negative or make me start to feel negative. But it is harder when people offer unsolicited opinions that are the opposite of what we have decided. I can't just toss them in the garbage or close the browser to get rid of it.

The fact is adoption opens us up to making a lot of decisions/choices that most parents don't get to make. For better or worse Mark and I have made our decisions, and continue to make them as new situation are presented to us, and feel like we are doing what is best for us and for our future child.

I have noticed that some are offended when we make a choice that they don't understand or is the opposite of what they would do, or what they have done with their own children/family. Our decisions and choices are personal to us and our unique situation and should not be taken personally by anyone else.

It may not seem like it at the time, but every decision we make brings us a step closer to bringing home the baby that is supposed to be in our family. When the time is right the baby that is meant to be ours will find it's way home to us.

Puppy Love

Mark and I had a great weekend! It started out Friday night with a drive to E WA. We got into town about 9pm, visited with Dad and Val for a bit and then went to bed. The next day Dad and Val had to work all day so Mark and I made our own plans. We birthday shopped for Dad and then headed to Prosser to catch up with Aunt Candy and Uncle Paul. They have a new 5th Wheel and decided to take it out for the first time for a quick over-night trip.

Well Mark and I beat them to Prosser by several hours as they had to pick up the trailer at the dealer Saturday morning. So we had lunch, did a lot of shopping (found the greatest hand bag store ever!) and then met them at the RV park. (Man Prosser has changed a ton from the days that I used to visit there!!!)

We opened a bottle of champagne to christen the trailer and then the 4 of us hit the wineries! Who knew Prosser would have like 50 wineries?! 2 1/2 hours and lot's of wine later we had a quick snack at the trailer and then Mark and I headed back to Kennewick to spend the rest of our time with Dad and Val.

Sunday morning Mark and I met with a Rhodesian Ridgeback breeder as we want that to be our next dog. However, we wanted to do our homework and make sure the breed would work for us. So we spent a few hours talking with the breeder and seeing the puppies! Enter Sawyer...he was one of the little boy puppies that Mark really fell in love with. He is so sweet, cute, and does not have a home yet.

For the record we had zero intentions of getting a puppy and we still don't know if this is the right time for us. However, we did fall in love, the price is right, it is almost summer so outdoor walks and training could start now, we don't have a baby yet and could get some good training time in, we fell in love with him, they are so cute as puppies and are beautiful as adults, oh did I mention we fell in love with Sawyer?

All joking aside we are giving it some serious thought and will make a decision by the end of the week. Either way I'm fine with getting a puppy now or waiting. In the meantime I keep looking at the photos and falling in love all over again!

Let us our of puppy jail!

Mark and Sawyer.

Me with one of the puppies...so cute! The puppy that is. :)

I Don't Care...

It is a phrase I use often and probably shouldn't. Saying "I don't care" is pretty negative and could make the person I'm talking to think I don't care about them, when really that is not the case.

Sometimes I truly don't care about what I'm being asked about...if Mark asks me which bottle of wine I want to open I usually don't care...I don't buy wine I don't like. But, it is nice of me to respond to him by saying "I don't care" when he is trying to make me happy? I think not.

Even if I really don't care what bottle he opens I could just pick one, or say that I like both so if he has a preference open that one, or I could tell him to surprise me, or I could say that I don't have a preference. There are a lot of options that sound a lot nicer than "I Don't Care".

Once of the things I find myself doing and/or thinking about since the 8 week challenge I did is finding little ways to make sure my marriage is a happy one. Mark has never said anything about not liking the "I don't care" phrase, but in my mind it seems like it is a little way to make my responses more pleasant.

Camping Photos

Here is the link to the camping photos. Makes me wish we were still there!

http://markyeatman.smugmug.com/Adventure/Camping/First-Camping-Trip-2010/11544502_yEtdQ#812999546_Zwzjz

Weekend Round Up

We had our first camping trip of the season this last weekend! It was raining on and off and cold, but we still had fun. Mark built a couple of good fires so we could sit outside between rain storms and enjoy the campfire. The rest of the time we stayed warm in the trailers and played games and kept Grace busy. Mark and Bob were able to find a couple of rain-free hours to go shooting, and Michelle and I hung out with Grace coloring and chatting. It was a great weekend and I can't wait for out next camping weekend! (Once Mark uploads the photos from his camera I will post a link to them.)

We had our first Kickball practice Sunday afternoon...man have I been sore ever since. Who knew kickball would kick my butt?! I hope it gets easier as the season progresses!

I was determined not to let the soreness interfere with my workout challenge, so I worked out Monday night, even though I probably should not have. By the end of the day yesterday I was having muscle cramps and spasms so bad I could hardly stand it. Per my Chiropractors orders I was told to go home and use the heating pad to feel better. I spent the evening on the couch taking ibuprofen and using the heating pad on my back and neck, and I woke up feeling much better this morning. Tonight is Zumba, so we will see how that goes.

Mark thinks my workout plan is a bit much...I don't have a single day off, so I agreed that I will take one day a week off from any kind of set work out, I may still walk the dog or do some yard work, but not a set work out...to give my body a break.

Food wise...we were camping so I don't really want to talk about it. :)

Fitness Challenge to Myself

So I started a new work out program, the Tracy Anderson Method. It is similar to Pilates in that it is a strength/toning workout that focuses on a lean, balanced, sexy look. So far I love workout and really like that I can do it at home any time during that day that works for me.

My plan is to continue doing Zumba 3 times a week and do the Tracy Anderson workout 4 times a week. My challenge to myself is to do this for the next 8 weeks with the end result being I feel and look great in my cloths.

Since I'm not a fan of getting hung up on weight and/or what size I am (keep in mind Jessica Simpson was a size 4 in the "Mom Jean's" photo and people blasted her for being fat...numbers don't mean a whole lot to me) I will have to track my success based on how many workouts I actually do and see if I think it has made a difference at the end of 8 weeks.

I'm also not drinking pop or alcohol (camping trips and game nights with friends are the exception to the alcohol rule). I am trying to make sure there are veggies at every meal as well and portion control.

Why am I doing this, not because I have gained any weight, or because I feel fat (ok I will admit I want to feel 100% confident in my bikini especially with summer around the corner), but rather I want to make sure I can easily enjoy the activities Mark and I do like mountain biking, hiking, taking the dog to the park and I want to make sure we can do those activities well into the later years. So, that means making sure I am as fit and health as possible now and maintaining that level of fitness and health for the rest of my life.

With all things I believe in balance and don't think fad diets and totally avoiding "bad" foods is the way to go. It is really hard to maintain that type of eating style. I will still let myself enjoy my favorite chips and salsa, or piece of cake here and there, but will not make it a regular part of my diet.

I actually love working out. I like knowing that I am in control of my body for an hour or two a day and that it will respond when I push it for just a few minutes more. I like feeling strong and healthy and have a closet full of cloths that I like and want to make sure I can continue to wear for a long time. I don't anticipate working out like this for the next 8 weeks will prove to be difficult for me, but am putting it out there so that I feel a little since of responsibility to follow through.

I will post weekly updates, and would be really upset with myself if I had to admit I skipped a work out!

Since this week is shot due to my hip acting up I am going to start the the 8 weeks on the 15th.

Good News!!!

I talked to my Aunt last night and found out that she DOES NOT have cancer! That is the best news I have heard in months! After more testing, scans, and a biopsy it turns out she has a bone condition, but it is not cancer, is not linked to cancer in any way, and is not a precursor to cancer. Woo Hoo!!!!

Also, I just have to mention how proud I am of my sister and her husband. They ran their second marathon this weekend and beat their first marathon time! I am not a runner, never will be a runner, and don't even want to try. It amazes me that they can run like they do and enjoy it! I can only imagine how difficult it must be to run a whole marathon and am proud beyond words of the two of them!

Disturbing Trend

I was watching Oprah’s interview with Jessica Simpson and was really bothered by what I saw. It had nothing to do with Jessica, but rather with the Western influence being inflicted on the rest of the world.

This is something I experiences first hand when I was in the Philippines. I was so disappointed to find that the mall was full of American stores and restaurants, and almost everywhere I went women were asking me how they could dress like me and get blonde hair like me. One young woman who was 25 told me that she hated her skin color and that it was ugly and pale skin was the most beautiful skin in the world. She said she wished she was as tall as me and could have blonde hair. (Mind you this woman was beautiful with perfect skin and hair!) I told her that women in the US pay a lot of good money to tan (and risk cancer) to get skin her color because “we” think it is beautiful but she didn’t believe me. She said she had dreamed about going to the US and being able to shop and party like we do.

I can’t tell you how much it bothered me that the majority of the people I had conversations with felt the same was as this young woman. It broke my heart that they thought they were not pretty because there were not pale and tall. It made me sick that the things they admire about our culture such as shopping, partying, and yes even smoking are so superficial and in some cases unhealthy.

I noticed that in downtown Manila the “pretty shinny” shops and attractions were all very American. To find anything authentic we had to travel into the “slums” and the less appealing parts of town. I felt like as a country they hid the authentic things about their culture away in the back alleys and drew people to the more American parts of the city. (Granted at the time it was not safe for Americans to travel outside the city, so I didn’t have the opportunity to see the beautiful country-side and see how people outside the city live).

Watching Oprah last night reminded me of my trip and how sad our influence on the Philippines made me. I find it very disturbing that people in China are having the bones in their legs broken and stretched so that they can gain a couple of inches in height. (Just as I find the majority of plastic surgery in the US disturbing!) It bothered me to see that in the Barbie store in China little girls don’t like the way Asian Barbie’s look and only want the white ones.

I understand that for some it represents a perception of freedom and/or opportunity that we have and maybe if they look like us they will also be treated like us and have the great job, 2.5 kids, 2 cars, handsome husband, and white picket fence.

There are so many beautiful things to be found in every culture and country around the world. It bothers me that that “our” biggest influence seems to be around looks, having a good time, money, labels, and McDonalds.

8 Week Challenge Update

Some of you know I participated in an 8 week challenge. My number one goal, not get irritated with Mark when he talks to me in what I call "his talking to a two year old tone".

For the record I don't view this as something negative about Mark, rather it is a negative that I respond to it in a negative way. (Ok, so I didn't feel that way headed into the challenge, which is why I needed the challenge, but I do feel that way now.)

There were a few other things I was working on at the same time as well, but this was the focus. My first thought was that if I got irritated with Mark I would tell him I loved him instead of responding with some smart comment that would lead to hurt feelings. Wouldn't you know that during the first several weeks no "two year old tone" was used so I didn't get to test my plan. The second thing I wanted to do was read The 5 Love Languages. Why that book? Because I had heard so much about it and didn't really know where to start so thought that was as good a starting place as any.

I loved the book! There is some good advice and for me personally the concept in the book is solid. By the time I was done with the book Mark decided he wanted to read it. (I should note here that I never talked to Mark about my participation in the challenge and unless you read my posts you wouldn't know I was doing the challenge. This was something I did 100% for myself to try and change something I didn't like about myself and become a better person and wife.) It was an extra added benefit that he read the book and we were able to talk about it together. Did it result in huge changes, no, but it did make me think about myself as a wife and what Mark wants and how he wants to be treated. It also got me to thinking about how much I love my husband and reminded me of why he is so wonderfully amazing!

The end result...it is a lot harder to be irritated at someone when you are thinking about how much you love them and are appreciating the qualities and talents that person brings to the relationship. Do I still get irritated, sometimes, but I am getting better at not showing that irritation, or showing it to a lesser extent (at least I think I'm getting better at it).

The unexpected benefit was that I learned a very important life lesson - just because there are no "big issues" that we need to work on does not mean it is ok to just coast along in our marriage. The last 8 weeks I have been exposed to books, blogs, and marriage tips in many other forms and all of that exposure forces me to look at myself and our marriage and appreciate what we do really well and look at ways we can make a great marriage an amazing one. If we wait until there are big issues to work on to make our marriage a priority it may be too late! I would rather make a great thing even better than try and fix something that is broken!

The blog that hosted the challenge picked 5 finalist who participated in the challenge and posted updates every week and made progress. I was shocked and honored to find I was one of the finalist. I didn't do this for the recognition, but for myself, my husband, and our relationship. Having said that, it did feel good see my name included with the 4 other finalists!

Thank you to Dustin at Engaged Marriage (it really is a great blog...you should check it out!) for hosting the 8 week challenge, keeping us on track, calling us out if we did not post our progress, sharing your own personal journey, offering advice and tips on reaching our goals, and for the lesson learned!

I think this may have started a new tradition for me. I have never been a fan of New Years Resolutions, but in the form of an 8 week challenge I really liked it. I like having something to focus/work on and may take the next 8 weeks and focus on exercises and diet. I'm getting ready to add a new work out program (waiting for the video to arrive before I post anything about it) to my already regular work out schedule and really want to lose that last 10 pounds.

More on that once I have the video.

Road Rage

It's not an emotion I usually deal with. I use my time in the car to listen to music that will energize me, calm me, make me smile, make me sing along, and just plain old makes me happy depending on where I'm headed and what I will be doing once I get there.

Traffic, no problem, I usually give myself enough extra time that I won't be late. Someone waits until the last minute to merge no problem I usually let them in. Sometimes I will admit I don't see the blinker in time, or should be paying better attention and don't let them in. Rear-end my car, yeah it's a problem, but I have never gotten mad at the driver...as long as everyone is ok I understand that mistakes happen.

But this morning I was ticked off! Some idiot was doing her eye liner while driving 70 on the freeway and swerving all over, almost hitting me! I tell you now stupid woman doing your make up in the car...if you ever hit me because you are doing your make up I will get out of the car and kick your ass!

To the woman in front of me on the off ramp, talking on your phone, and not paying attention to the light...get off the phone...it is against the law to talk and drive!

Lastly, to the jay walker who had dark skin, dark clothing and dashed out between 2 black cars...you are lucky my breaks work! I couldn't see you until you were almost on the hood of my car, and who would expect a person to come flying at them in the middle of a busy block with no cross walk and you were crossing the street against traffic.

By the time I got to work I was ready to run the next stupid pedestrian and/or bad driver over! Good thing I was not in my husband big old truck or it just may have happened!