An Accolade to Chard

Last night while talking to my 2 mommies (hmm, gotta be careful saying that nowadays), I mean my mom and Char Char, I told them I was making chard for dinner and neither one of them had heard of chard before. Since I'm a big fan of this vegetable I thought I would give y'all a little tour of this heavyweight veggie in terms of nutrition.

This is Swiss chard. Red stalks, big dark green leaves packed with Vitamins K, A and C.


below is Rainbow Chard...and yes those colors are all real and natural!

To make it you can saute, steam, or blanch it (there's probably more ways, those are just the ones I've done). Previously I rolled it up, cut it in ribbons and steamed it with garlic and orzo...but I couldn't find the recipe last night and almost drove myself crazy looking for it.

So instead I tried out a new recipe from the Alton Brown cookbook I got for Christmas, which has onions, LOTS of garlic, which after you cook for awhile you add a paste of butter and flour and toast it all, then add crushed tomatos, chicken broth and whisk till the sauce becomes creamy goodness. Throw in whole wheat pasta (boiled in the water the chard was blanched in to get extra minerals and goodness) and the chopped up chard. Topped with parmesan or feta (the parm was better) it was pretty darn good! I think I may add a few of my own tweaks, but Matt ate 4 servings so it couldn't be that bad!

mmmm...we're both having it again for lunch today too...



and did I mention this entire meal costs about $6 or $7?

to further impress upon you the goodness of chard, here's a link to a chart showing how much good stuff it has...

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=16

Thus endeth my acolade of chard.


Oh, and this is what I got at Ikea yeserday to finish off our reading corner:

A tall frame, poster (that I cut up) and a shelf for books and coffee. Now I need a creative way to cover up that cord...

And one more tidbit. Our landlords/upstairs neighbors/friends' 3 year old son Micah is going in for a procedure that will close a patent (open) ductus arteriosis (a prenatal blood vessel between the aorta and the pulmonary vessel), that should have closed at his birth. Please keep him and their family in your prayers.

Okie Homie

Our first day in Oklahoma we headed into OK City to Brick Town, the downtown part of the city built around a river that, according to my mom, "Is trying really really hard to have a river walk." It may not be San Antonio, but it was pretty.

Here are my lovebird parents.

And here is one of the many statues of an American Buffalo.

I mean, really American.

It was too easy to pass up all the jokes on this one...





Then my dad led us under a bridge to what we thought was nowhere but turned out to be an enormous statue of the Oklahoma land race.

Where we proceeded to have more fun climbing like monkeys on the warm metal.

Matt and I are headed to the homestead...

Then we wandered over to the enormous Bass Pro Shop.

Enormous.

And J found himself on a park bench towards the back. Why Bass Pro felt the necessity for a garden backdrop in the middle of all that camo I don't know.

J looks rather frightened.

And here's where the men wanted to stay the rest of the day. In large, oversized, camo/woodland printed Lazy Boys.

Wouldn't you like one in your living room?

That evening there was a storm a'blowin' in and we all hopped in the car and drove out on the plains to watch the lightning. Most of it was cloud to cloud but we saw some amazing strikes and one particularly bright one lit up the giant thunderhead blowing by. We didn't get much of the storm but it was fun to watch!

Easter Sunday we all dolled up and headed to the Baptist church. It was a large church, emblazoned with pastels and lilies and there was a singin' and a baptizin' and a preachin' and even a bit o' dancin' by girls in white robes. Apparently that part was a bit unusual for the church, but it bein' Easter Sunday and all I guess they wanted to pull out the big guns.

Afterwards we all piled back in ye olde minivan and took a little tour of Edmond, stopped to see Buddy and Tammy's lovely house, and saw Buddy brushing their large German Shepherd Dawson outside. I thought he might have been shearing a sheep there was so much fur! Heavens! And we thought Roy shed a lot! We waved and hollered we'd see them soon and went back to the house.

I popped in the mac n' cheese I had made the night before and my mom pulled out the ham and threw in the rolls. We had just finished everything up with everything when Buddy and Tammy arrived with two new MACU hires, their son Chris and friend Mike Good, and of course Dawson.

We all dove in again and entered a state of food paralysis and talked away the afternoon. Ok, confession. Matt and I were still recovering from the move and the time change and we passed out on the chaise lounge. But we talked most of the time.

Monday my mom and I got to have a girls day and hit up Hobby Lobby, Serendipity and Hip & Swanky all in one afternoon. That sounds like the playlist of a pop album, doesn't it?

By late afternoon we headed back, picked up the boys and were off to the Western Heritage Museum. We got there only 28.3 minutes before the doors closed so we practically ran from the guitar showroom to the old western town to the outdoor area where famous bulls and horses are buried (yes, that's what I said).

There was also a giant statue of Wild Bill Coyote.

The family gazing admirably.

After that we met up with my dad at a restaurant on Lake Hefner and ate some DE-LISH food. We were nearly done with dinner when the waiter came over and asked my brother, "Is your name Jeremy?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"From Orange County?"

"Um, yeah?"

Turns out one of the waitresses there had gone to high school with J and done a play or two with him.

It's a small world after all...

That night we kids all stayed up super late with the knowledge we'd have to get up at 4:30 or some ungodly hour to make it to the airport to catch our plane rides home. We managed to make it on time and after hugging my parents hard we got on the plane. I got to spend a bit more time sitting next to my bro on the bumpy flight to Denver, then we said our goodbyes and we headed to Seattle while he headed back to the OC.

That's probably about as much of me for today that you can take so I'll sign off now, to leave you looking forward to pics of our place finally put together!

Never Underestimate a Sofa

Oh how I've missed it.

Being able to come home from a long day and plop down.

Taking the phrase "Put your feet up" literally.

Laying at one end of the couch and waving my feet in front of Matt's face for him to rub.

Yes, all these things are what comes with a sofa.

Which we had not had (is that grammatically correct?) for a month now. But last Friday, after impatiently waiting we finally picked up our first large furniture purchase made as a couple. A brand new couch!

Before I give you the grand tour of our near-completed home, let's recap over the past month.

First there was an empty room.

a few boxes at first

then we moved in

and began unpacking...

and our house exploded.

it was about this time I went insane.

Eventually we got it under control...

but were still waiting for that elusive piece of furniture...

and Friday we got it!

oh how we rejoiced!

And now for your consideration, is our new home.

Roy is very grateful for the shag rug. Its one large dog bed.

I love our library, but was shocked to find 3 bookcases hardly held all our books!

see Ammah? we kept your yellow chair

I love our little breakfast nook...

This clear counter top makes me feel so Zen

The bedroom is still a work in progress. We had a minor setback when a shelf loaded with books and pictures decided to give way and dump everything into our laundry bins giving Roy and I quite a start, and I'm still figuring out what to do with that whole wall. And I have plans for the stairway, too, but you'll have to wait for that one.

Hope you enjoyed your tour of the Palmer Place!

Journey to Okie Land

We moved on a Saturday and Sunday.

Monday after work we went back to the old apartment to clean it.

Tuesday after work we tried to unpack what we could at our new place.

Wednesday after work we went back to the old apartment to clean the carpets.

Thursday after work we went back to the old apartment to hand over the keys and do the walk through.

Friday morning we dropped Roy off at daycare and flew to Oklahoma City for the Easter weekend.

We were flat out exhausted. The circles under my eyes were so dark I kept thinking it was mascara that had smudged.

On our way to OKC we had to stop in Denver, then we met up with my brother and got on a small prop plane headed to OKC.

Oh Lordy.

I've had some air scares. I've been in a plane hit by lightning, in one that had to take off unexpectedly so we wouldn't crash into another plane on the tarmac, and had my share of drink-spilling turbulence.

But those flights in and out of Denver, let me tell you, were some of the worst turbulence I've been in. And on the first flight out I would have been near pulling something my mother once did in putting my feet up on the back of the seat in front of me like birthing stirrups and shrieking "WE'RE GOING DOWN!"

Sorry, mom, but that story's just too good to hide.

I say "would have been" because in the seat in front of me sat a good ole' Oklahoma boy who laughed, guffawed, yipped and yee-hawed for every jolt and drop that plane took. My brother was sitting across the aisle from him and kept making eye contact with me with a look that said, "Is he crazy? I don't care because it makes the whole thing funny and a lot less scary!"

Twenty minutes into the flight it felt the whole plane (all 30 of us or however many there were) was giggling right along with the man. When we left Oklahoma and flew back to Denver, I kept thinking of that man and every dip and dive we took I giggled and thought, "THAT was a doosey!"

We did make it safety to Oklahoma City where my exuberant Dad picked us up and took us directly to the new Mid American Christian University (MACU.edu, for a little plug) campus to show us around his new office.

Very nice indeedy, and if you're looking for an online school I've heard good things about it ;-). Both my parents are in the process of finishing up their college degrees and are enjoying it, though it seems funny to hear my mom talk about homework.

At my parent's house which is adorably decorated and felt like "home" with so many familiar things in it, we were wrapped in the whirlwind hug that was my mom and hustled in for a dinner of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy and biscuits...mmm. That began a long weekend of eating very very good food in very very large quantities. I think I'm still full, and the phrase of the weekend was "I'm in a food coma."

More to come later on Brick Town, storm chasing, and giant sculptures of the Oklahoma land race but all that need pictures and I don't have those right now so you'll have to wait.

And I haven't forgotten about "The Land of Two Names" post, its just much better shown with pictures and every night up until last weekend has been preoccupied with trying to get our house in order. Which it now is...but then of course, you'd like to see pictures...

Drinking Wine From a Dixie Cup

We've moved!

After weeks of packing, condensing, organizing, and trying to prepare for the big day it is now behind us and all our of stuff is currently sitting in boxes in our new place (or in my car, still)

Sunday and Monday night we were at the Queen Anne apartment spackling, touching up paint, vacuuming and cleaning every last nook and cranny.

And you know what I've learned in all this?

No matter how organized you think you are, you're still going to wind up throwing a wayward shoe you found under the bed, a half-used bottle of shampoo, a too-late discovered library book and a box of spaghetti all in one box.

And, no matter how clean you think you are, you'll still find dirt in the windowsill and spatters on the stove.

That's life. Messy, dirty, and at the end of the day further under your fingernails than you're comfortable with.

Here's a couple shots during the pack up.

Roy would not stop itching a hot spot on his tummy and I got so fed up with him I put a t-shirt on him.

He wears it well.

And here's Mr. Matt helping pack up the kitchen...or something like that.

Friday evening Matt and I headed over to the New Place, signed the lease, did a quick walk through and unloaded our first batch of stuff. Mostly fragile stuff that I get nervous and fidgety about when I think of it riding in a Budget truck or important stuff that we'll need right away.


So basically, our china and the toilet paper.


so nice and clean! (for now)

Saturday morning dawned bright and clear, thank goodness. Our ever-so-appreciated friends Stephanie and Peter turned up and with their help we began moving our stuff from the apartment to the hall, from the hall to the elevator, and from the elevator to the truck.

Stephanie and I began the day upstairs tying up loose ends, but one trip down to the truck after a "It's getting full" from Matt told us we were more needed there.

We love our men, we really do, but for whatever reason their packing skills...well...are a bit lacking. You want a computer fixed? Peter's your guy. What kind of jacket do you need to scale Everest? Matt's your man. Both can carry massive loads without so much as a grunt, but ask them to play Tetris and they might have some issues.

The "almost full" 16' Budget truck had almost no floor space left, but things were only stacked a box or two high...

Enter Stephanie.

In ten minutes items were wedged and moved and rearranged to clear up half the truck space and pack everything in for a nice, cozy ride. She should seriously consider a career as a moving van packer, because she did an amazing job!

By two-ish we were starving, tired, and ready to head south. Stephanie and Peter headed off to Costco to grab lunch and Matt and I were off to the new place.

Now, you may be wondering in all this hullabaloo where the Roy Boy was.

Skiing.

My dog went skiing while we sweat and grunted and moved our stuff. Matt's friend John took his dog Cooper and our Roy up to the mountains and they would hike up a mountiain and while John skiied down Roy took full advantage of his webbed paws and ran/slid downhill.

As John said, "Roy is so much better behaved after an hour of running through the snow!"

At the new place, after a quick lunch and a promise for the zillionth time to Steph and Peter that we'd return to Queen Anne to visit (I promise!), we began the process of unloading. Mark and Sara--the couple who own the house--graciously helped us out and the unload process went much faster than the loading process!

Aaaaaaaah! Chaos!!!

And that's when you pour your wine in a dixie cup, pop a squat on the floor since there's no couch and listen to the rain fall. And did it EVER fall! Not on moving day, thank the good Lord. But Sunday and Monday we had a downpour like I've never seen!

Monday I was home with a migraine (guess I should mention I had it since Saturday morning...ah the joys of eating unhealthy and getting no sleep), and realized the rain was getting louder and louder.

Then I looked outside.

Hail!

Roy wasn't sure what to think of this stuff...

Inside, he has claimed his own spot on the stairs where he can survey everything and still listen to the kids upstairs.

And at the end of the first night, I looked over to see my men snuggling...awww...

That's all for now folks. Stay tuned for the next update, "In the Land of Two Names."